THE 



AMERICAN MATRON; 



OB, 



PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC COOKERY. 



THE 



AMERICAN MATRON 



OR, 



PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC 



COOKERY. 



/ 
\ 



HOUSEKEEPE K 



" Hand inexperjta loquor." 



BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE : 

JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 

1851. 



N\ 



^ 



<s 



A\\ 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 

James Mo-roe and Company, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 



/ 









PREFACE. 



The condition of society in America is peculiar, and very 
distinct from that of the Old World. From the character of 
our institutions, we have, and can have, few families in very op- 
ulent circumstances, and few also in poverty. To our whole 
people, rich and poor together, the world is open, with all its 
pleasures, its hopes, and its prizes. The general high standard 
of education and information enables us all to know and to 
sympathize with all the fashions, tastes, and luxuries of the 
wealthiest and most cultivated circles. The general spirit 
of enterprise, the eager ambition, and the habit of self- 
respect and confidence, lead our people to pretend to and to 
seek all that is desirable in comfort, delightful in taste, 
showy in fashion, or in any way agreeable to ourselves or 
producing an effect upon others. Hence our social ambition 
over-taxes our abilities, and our absolute social necessities 
require, in most cases, an economy careful and judicious, to 
enable us to satisfy our wants and wishes. An American 
1* 



O PREFACE. 

home is the abode of an intelligence, cultivation, and general 
appreciation of the good and the beautiful, as strong and as 
expanded as in far wealthier European families. Every 
influence about us is exciting and stimulative in the highest 
degree to all, while our social equality subdivides the wealth 
and capacity of expenditure among infinitely larger num- 
bers, greatly reducing the share of each individual, even of 
the wealthy and independent classes. 

It may be said of the great majority of American families 
that they feel the want and desire of every thing, and are 
compelled to earn, for themselves, the fulfilment of their 
desires and the supply of their wants. This would be a hard 
lot, were it not that, from the selfsame social peculiarities, 
intelligence, activity, economy, and sagacity are always 
sufficient unto themselves, and that means well chosen and 
wisely employed seldom fail to insure all reasonably antici- 
pated ends. 

An American home is the theatre of the highest hopes 
and the proudest pretensions. Legislators, chieftains, judges, 
presidents, are born even in the humbler ones among them. 
The most cultivated tastes, the best trained intellects, are 
cradled and educated there, often amid moderate resources, 
not unfrequently with stinted and inadequate means, seldom 
in the abundance of superfluous wealth. 

How worthy a task for American wives and mothers to 
adapt their households, practically, to those political and 
social institutions which are intended to afford competence 



PREFACE. 7 

and comfort to all, and overgrown wealth to none ! Frugal- 
ity and order must be the corner-stones of our republican 
edifice. The extravagant follies and unmeasured expendi- 
ture of European aristocracies are impossible and incom- 
patible here. Let woman, then, bring her house into a wise 
harmony with the means at her command. The matters 
contained in the sphere of her oversight may be trifles in 
themselves, but, in their sum, go far to constitute human 
life. A well-ordered and economic household, a neat and 
cheerful home, well-prepared and acceptable fare, will be 
the happiness of the lives of husbands and children, the 
sources of genial comfort and kindly content, great moral 
as well as physical blessings. The harmonious results of 
well-directed industry and wisely-managed means will spread 
around an atmosphere of healthy and enduring affection and 
joy, and lay in order, system, and skilful adaptation the 
foundations of progressive well being, of active and rational 
hopes and aspirations. At the bottom of good housewifery 
is the all-important art of good cooking — a matter of joint 
science and experiment. In this little book an attempt is 
made to effect a twofold purpose. First, to furnish a collec- 
tion of the very best receipts that practical skill has suggest- 
ed for all varieties of food. In this particular, great care 
has been taken to introduce nothing but what is known to be 
valuable, and to leave out nothing worthy of a place. We 
have also endeavored to supply the scientific knowledge 
necessary for the full understanding and skilful use of the 



8 PREFACE. 

practical instructions. Our wish is, to give the reason, as 
well as the fact, and to enlighten practice by the illustration 
of the theoretic process. We seek to give the how and the 
why, as well as the bare fact itself. This is not only, in 
many cases, highly interesting and curious, but necessary 
to the intelligent use of means and a skilful employment 
of circumstances. The housekeeper, to whose care the 
comfort and health of a family are committed, should not 
be a blind and blundering agent, acting mechanically and 
in utter ignorance of the rationale of her own movements. 
An apparently slight and abstruse circumstance of material 
or of procedure sometimes makes the difference between 
a luxury and a poison, between economy and waste, between 
ease and comfort, and vexation, failure, and loss. Good 
cookery is of inestimable importance to our comfort, hap- 
piness, and health ; and, indirectly, even to our intellectual 
and moral being. It should not be managed by quackery, 
but by intelligent and well-informed superintendence. We 
have endeavored to state, in the simplest and briefest manner, 
these scientific principles, and to bring together, from the 
scattered and technical developments of scientific research, 
the truths necessary to explain and direct the operations we 
suggest. Some general sanitary rules and facts, upon im- 
portant and common topics, have been added — all from 
the highest and latest authorities. We hope our fair coun- 
trywomen may appreciate our labors, and that they may 
feel that we have added something of dignity and real 



PREFACE. 



9 



philosophy to an important branch of human occupation. 
The practical receipts here offered them have been selected, 
with great care, from a vast quantity collected from all acces- 
sible sources, both public and private. They are graduated 
to every requirement, from the simple fare of common life to 
the most elaborate luxuries of the table. 

The theoretic explanations of chemical changes, either 
resulting from natural or culinary processes, will give to the 
young housekeeper a clear and unembarrassed view of the 
character of the materials she must employ, and the proper 
mode of that employment. They must facilitate and render 
more definite and certain the undertakings of even the most 
experienced, and enable the skilful to combine and regulate, 
to preserve and modify, to keep and to use, the matters 
belonging to housewifery, in a manner far more perfect, 
thorough, and sure. The most lucid and comprehensive 
positive instruction must sometimes prove deficient and un- 
satisfactory. It will sometimes become inapplicable from 
circumstances, or miscarry from want of full understanding 
or well-directed precaution. A knowledge of the principles, 
upon which the required process depends, is the only sure 
guard against error, and the best guaranty of perfect 
success. 

The few sanitary facts given must be valuable to every 
mother. By a due regard to such truths, she may save her 
children many a pain and ache, and add to their constitu- 
tional strength and vigor, to a degree that will be a blessing 



) 



to their entire existence. A little preventive caution may 
often avert serious sickness, and the constant operation of 
daily influences, of good or evil tendency, make eventu- 
ally all the difference between health and disease, comfort 
and misery. 

Salem, July 7, 1851. 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Water. 

General Observations, 13 

Common Waters, 13 

Mineral Waters, 17 

Purification of Common Waters, 16 

Rain Water, .. 14 

River Water, 15 

Sea Water, 16 

Snow Water, 15 

Spring Water, 15 

Well Water, 16 

Tea. 

General Observations on making 
Tea, 17 

Coffee.^ 

General Observations on making 

Coffee, 18 

Coffee, 19 

Coffee made in a Biggin, 19 

Coffee, French Fashion, 19 

Monsieur Soyer's Recipe, 20 

Cocoa, 20 

Shells, 20 

Cracked Cocoa, 20 

Chocolate, 21 

Mulled or Frothed Chocolate, ... 21 

French Chocolate, 21 

Drinks for the Sick. 

Apple Water, 22 

Barley Water, 22 

Beef Tea, 21 

Caudle, 22 

Chicken Tea 21 

Fresh Fruit Water, 23 

Fig and Apple Beverage, 23 



Gruel from Groats, ,. . 22 

Ground Rice Gruel, 23 

Indian Meal Gruel, 23 

Oatmeal Gruel, 22 

Raspberry Vinegar Beverage,... 23 

Refreshing Drink, 23 

Rice Water, 22 

Sago Gruel 22 

Toast Water, 23 

Drinks for Dinner, Evening, &c. 

Currant Wine, 26 

Currant Shrub, 27 

Drink for a Convalescent, 26 

English Ginger Beer 26 

Ginger Beer, 26 

Good Drink, 25 

Hook Punch, 25 

Hop Beer, 26 

Imperial, 25 

Lemon Water, 24 

Lemon Shrub, 24 

Lemon Sirup, 21 

Mulled Wine, 26 

Orgeat, 24 

Pleasant Drink, 24 

Punch, 25 

Regent's Punch, 25 

Racahout des Arabes, 27 

Sarsaparilla Mead, 26 

Webster Punch, 25 

Wine Whey, 25 

Bread. 
General Observations on making 

and baking Bread, 27 

Yeast. 

General Remarks...... 34 



12 



INDEX. 



Yeast, 35 

Dry Yeast, 35 

Potato Yeast, 35 

Portable Yeast, 36 

Bread made withj'Sponge, 40 

Brown Bread, 41 

Dyspepsia Bread, 41 

Family Bread, 38 

Flannel Bread, 42 

Muffin Bread 42 

New Milk Bread, 42 

Portable Yeast Bread, 37 

Bice Bread, 40 

Bye Bread, 41 

Thirded Bread, 41 

Toast. 

General Observations,' 42 

Dipped Toast, 43 

Dry or Scratch Toast, 43 

Hot Cakes. 

Buttermilk Cakes, 44 

Buttermilk Griddle Cakes, 49 

Buckwheat Cakes, 45 

Corn Meal Rusk, 46 

Corn Cake, 49 

Corn Bread, 51,52 

Corn Muffins, 52 

Corn Waffles, 52 

Cream Tartar Cakes, 44 

Crura Cakes, 50 

Drop Cakes, 47 

Flannel Cakes, 48 

French Rolls 44 

Hominy Fritters, . , 52 

Indian Cake, 49 

Indian Batter Cake, 50 

Indian Corn — General Remarks, 50 

Journey, or Johnny Cake, 49 

Muffins and English Muffins,.... 45 

Nimble Cake, 48 

Oyster Corn Cakes, 53 

Rolls 44 

Rice Cakes, 50 

Rye Cakes, 48, 49 

Royal Corn Cakes, 52 

Rice and Indian Cakes, 52 

Raised Waffles 52 

Rice Flannel Cakes, 52 

Rusks, 46 

Sour Cream Cakes, 44 

Squash Cakes, 50 

Sweet Potato Waffles, 52 

Virginia Bread Cakes, 52 

Velvet Cakes, 53 



Waffles, 47 

Washington Corn Cake, 48 

Whigs 47 

Widows' Cake, 48 

Whortleberry (Huckleberry) Cake,49 

Cake. 

General Remarks, 53 

AlmondCake 60 

Almond Puffs', 61 

Almond Cakes, 61 

Baker's Molasses Gingerbread,.. 71 

Barnard Cake, 73 

Cider Cake, 66 

Common Cake, 66 

Cream Cakes, 60 

Cocoa-nut Cakes, 61 

Common Cup Cake, 63 

Cup Cake, 63 

Clay Cake, 66 

Composition Plum Cake, 58 

Common Loaf Cake, 65 

Corsican Gingerbread, 67 

Cookies, 68 

Common Gingerbread, 69 

Caraway Seed Cake, 69 

Cream Cake, . .*. 69 

Cream Tartar Doughnuts, 71 

Doughnuts, 71 

Elizabeth Loaf Cake, 65 

Election Cake, . 65 

Esther's Loaf Cake, 64 

Ellen's Cake, 64 

Eden's Cake 66 

Fruit Cake, 68 

Frosting for Cake, 62, 63 

Gold Cake, 60 

Granny Strong's Cake, 64 

Gingerbread, 68 

Gringle Cake, 69 

Ginger Nuts, 70 

Ginger Snaps, 71 

Ginger Cake, very nice, 67 

Harrison Cake, , 66 

1,2, 3,4Cake, 66 

Indian Pound Cake, 67 

Jumbles, 69 

Lady's Finger Cakes, 63 

Loaf Cake, very nice, 64, 65 

Macaroons, 61, 62 

Molly Saunders's Cake, 70 

Molasses Gingerbread, 70, 71 

Plum Cake, 57, 58 

Pound Cake, 59 

Queen's Cakes, 61 

Roxbury Loaf Cake, 65 

Russell Cake, 66 



INDEX. 



Ratafias, 62 

Rice Sponge Cake, 62 

Raised Doughnuts, 72 

Rice Puffs, 73 

Sponge Cakes, 59, 60 

Silver Cake, 60 

Savoy Biscuit, 62 

Soda Cake, 67 

Shrewsbury Cake, 67 

Sally Lunns, -. . 67 

Sandwiches, (Cake,) 69 

Svmballs, 68, 72 

Sweet Potato Cake, 73 

Tea Cakes, 63, 64 

Taylor Cake, 67 

Unbolted Flour Cake, 73 

Pastry. 

General Observations, 73 

Puff Paste, 76 

Puff Paste with Beef Suet, 78 

Half Puff Paste, 78 

Short Paste, 78 

Short Paste for Fruit Tarts, 79 

Potato Paste, 79 

French Recipe for Raised Pies,. . 79 

Savory Pies. 

Venison Pie, 81 

Chicken Pie, 82 

Oyster Pie 84 

Partridge Pie, 83 

Patties, 84 

Pigeon Pie, 83 

Pastie of Mutton, 82 

Various other Pies, 82 

Pot Pies, or Meat Puddings, 
and Pies. 

Beefsteak Pudding, 85 

Veal Pot Pie 85 

Lamb, Pork, and Kidney Pies,. . . 85 

Apple Pies, 87 

Apples prepared for Pies, 88 

Blackberry or Huckleberry Pie, . 87 
Cherry, Plum, or Quince Pie, .... 88 

Dried Apple Pies, 87 

Dried Plum Pies, 88 

Fruit Pies, 87 

Jelly Pies, 88 

Mince Pies 85 

Peach Pies 88 

Paste for Mince Pies, 86 

Plain Mince Pies, 86 

Rhubarb, Gooseberry, &c, Pies,. . 88 

2 



Eggs. 

General Observations, 89 

Baked or Roasted Eggs, 90 

Boiled Eggs, 89 

Dropped Eggs, 89 

Hard Scrabble, 90 

Omelets, 90 

Tomato Omelet, 90 

Pickled Eggs, 90 

Preservation of Eggs, 91 

Vegetables. 

General Observations, 93 

Asparagus, 103 

A Substitute for Asparagus, .... 108 

Beets, plain and dressed, 100 

Broccoli, 102 

String Beans and Shelled Beans, 105 

Beans, baked, 107 

Carrots, 100 

Cauliflower, plain and dressed, 102 
Cabbage, plain and dressed, .... 102 

Corn, 106 

Corn Oysters, 106 

Cucumbers, plain and stewed,. 105 

Celery, 101 

Egg Plant, 101 

Fried Sweet Potatoes, 100 

Greens, 105 

Hominy, 107 

Mushrooms, 104 

Macaroni, 107 

Onions, 105 

Peas, boiled, plain and dressed,. 104 
Potatoes, a la Maitre d'Hotel,.. 102 

Squash, 100 

Salsify, plain and full dressed, . 101 

Sourkrout, 103 

Spinach, 103 

Sea Kale, 103 

Samp, 107 

Summer Succotash, 106 

Cold Stew 108 

Turnips, 100 

Tomatoes, 106 

Condiments or seasoning agents. 

Saline Condiment, 109 

Acidulous Condiment, 110 

Oily Condiment, 110 

Saccharine Condiment, 110 

Aromatic Condiment, Ill 

Bitter Almonds, Ill 

Butter, Ill 

Mustard, 112 



14 



INDEX. 



Kitchen Pepper, 112 

Ripening Fruits. 

General Observations, 112 

Baked and stewed Fruits, 114 

Apples, coddled, 115 

Dried Apples, stewed, 115 

Stewed Pears, 115 

Pb.eseb.yes. 

General Observations, 115 

Apple Jelly, 120, 121 

Apple, Crab, 120 

Barberries, 121 

Blackberry Sirup, 121 

BlackCurrants, 122 

Candy Fruits, 118 

To clarify Sugar, 117 

Citron Melon, 120 

Currant Jelly, 121 

Cranberry Jelly, 121 

Damsons, 120 

Grape Jam, 122 

Green Gage, and other Plums, . 120 

Lemon Marmalade, 120 

Orange Marmalade, 119 

Peaches, 118 

Pine Apple, 120, 121 

Quinces, 118 

Raspberry Jam, 120 

Raspberry or Blackberry Jam, . 120 

Strawberries and Raspberries,.. 122 

Puddings. 

General Observations 123 

Almond Puddings, baked and 

boiled, 130 

Arrowroot Pudding, 138 

Apple Pudding, 134, 135, 137 

Apple Suet Pudding, 137 

Apple Fritters, 140 

Apple and Cracker Pudding,. . . 141 

Bread and Butter Pudding,. . . . 130 

Bread Pudding, 132, 141 

Bunn Pudding, with Fruit,. 136, 138 

Bird's Nest Pudding, 137 

Bird's Nest Sago Pudding, .... 141 

Carrot Pudding, 135 

A Charlotte, 137 

Christmas Plum Pudding, 126 

Custard Plum Pudding, 128 

Cocoa-nut Pudding, 131 

Corn Pudding, 132 

Cracker Pudding, 136 



Custard Pudding, 137, 138 

Carolina Snow Balls, 139 

Curate's Pudding, 141 

Dried Apple or Plum Pudding, 136 

Eve's Pudding, 129 

Huckleberrv Pudding, 136, 137 

Indian Pudding, 139 

Lemon Pudding, 130, 131, 142 

Macaroni Pudding, 138 

Marlborough Pudding, 129 

Plum Puddings, 127, 128 

Potato Puddings, 129, 130 

Sweet Potato Pudding, 134 

Pine Apple Pudding, 138 

Pancakes 140 

Pumpkin Pudding, 134 

Rice, boiled, 135 

Rusk Pudding, 142 

Rice Pudding, 135, 136 

Rye Pudding, 139 

Rice (groundj Pudding, 131, 132, 133 

Savory Rice, 141 

Sago Pudding, 133 

Squash Pudding, 134, 139 

Sunderland Pudding, 132 

Tapioca Pudding, 133, 142 

Transparent Pudding, 136 

Yorkshire Pudding, 140 

Sweet Dishes. 

General Observations, 142 

Apple Float, 148 

Arrowroot Blanc Mange, 149 

Apple Cream, 151 

Apple Cups, 155 

Bohemian Jelly Creams, 147 

Blanc Mange, 147, 148, 149 

A Bird's Nest, 14S 

Bavarois, 157 

Coloring for Ices, &c, 143 

Charlotte Russe, 143, 144 

Calves' Foot Jelly, 145 

Charlotte Strawberry, 147 

Custards, 159, 151, 157 

Chocolate Puffs, 152 

Creme Plorabier, 1§2 

Coffee Cream 153 

Chantilly Cake, 153 

Charlotte des Pommes, 156 

Creme Fouettee, 156 

Creme Brulee, 155 

Cream, whipped, loo 

Decoction of Isinglass, 145 

Decoction of Hartshorn, 145 

Dutch Flummery, 148 

French Jellies, 147 



INDEX. 



15 



Fritters, 155 

Floating Island, 152 

Frozen Pudding, 154 

Italian Cream, 151 

Jellies, 146, 147, 157 

Kisses, 152 

Lemon Creams, 152 

Lemon Honey, 152 

Meringues, 153 

Orange Honey, 152 

Omelette Souffle, 157 

Salad of Oranges, &c, 154, 155 

Trifle, 149 

Tipsy Cake, 149 

Velvet Cream, 148 

Whip Syllabub, 149 

"Westminster Fool, 155 

To prepare Ice for icing, 158 

Ice made from Cream, 158 

To prepare Ice for Milk, 159 

Water Ices 1 58 

Roman Punch 158 

Raspberry, Vanilla, and Ice,... 158 

Pine Apple Ice, 158 

Punch instead of Roman Ice,.. 159 

Sauces. 

General Observations, 159 

Anchovy Sauce, 161 

Butter, melted or drawn, 160 

Beefsteak Sauce, 160 

Bread Sauce, 161 

Beef Gravy 162 

Cranberry Sauce, 160 

Cod Sauce, 160 

Celery Sauce, 161 

Chestnut Sauce, 162 

Cucumber Sauce, 162 

Game, &c, 162, 164 

Gravy Sauce, 160 

Ham 163 

.Lobster Sauce, 161 

Lemon Sauce, 162 

Mint Sauce, 162 

Mutton, 162 

Oyster Sauce, 160 

For Pork, 163 

For Dressing a Salad,..., 163 

Sauce for Tripe, 164 

Tomato Sauce, 160 

Cold Pudding Sauce, 164 

Hot Pudding Sauce, 164 

Forcemeats. 

General Observations, 164 



Brain Cakes, 165 

Common Stuffing, 165 

Eggs for Turtle Soup, 166 

Forcemeat Balls, 165 

Fish Stuffing, 165 

Garnishing for Dishes, 166 

Accompaniments for Meats, .... 166 

Boiled Mutton, 166 

Boiled Fish 166 

Veal, Calf's Head, 166 

Corned Beef, 166 

Roast Beef, 166 

Rice Edging for Curry, &c...... 166 

Potato Edging, 166 

Boiled Fish 166 

Fish. 

General Observations 167 

To select Fish 169 

Cod, Head and Shoulders, 173 

Baked Cod, 173 

Crimped Cod, 173 

Broiled Scrod, 173 

Fried Cod, 173 

Curry of Cod, 173 

Chowder, 173 

Crabs, hot or cold, 177 

Clams, 177 

Eels, 176 

Fish, salt, 174 

FishCakes, 177 

Halibut, 174 

Lobster, 177 

Mackerel, 175 

Oysters, 177 

Perch, 175 

Shad, 174 

Smelts, 175 

Salmon, 172 

Tautog, 176 

Trout 176 

Tongues and Sounds, 177 

Soups. 

General Observations 178 

Brown Stock, for Soup or Gravy, 184 

Brown Soup, 186 

Calves' Head Soup, 184 

Coloring for Soups or Gravies,.. 184 

Chicken Broth, 188 

Green Peas Soup, 186 

Lobster Soup, 18S 

Macaroni Soup, 189 

Mutton Broth, 188 

Oyster Soup, • 187 



16 



INDEX. 



Oxtail Soup, 188 

Pea Soup, 185 

Shin Soup, k 187 

Tomato Soup, 188 

Vermicelli Soup, 186 

Vegetable Soup, 186 

Meats. 

General Observations, 189 

To choose Meats, 191 

Alamode Beef, 200 

Bacon, 209 

Beef, to roast, 197 

Beef, Ragout, 198 

Beef, Hunter's, 198 

Beef Cheese, 209 

Fricandeau of Beef, 199 

Fricassee of Beef, 200 

Corned Beef, 201 

Beefsteaks, 199 

Beefsteaks with Oysters, 199 

Beefsteaks smothered with 

Onions 199 

Brawn, 207 

Calf's Head, 201 

Calves' Feet, 202 

Calf's Liver, 206 

Italian Cheese, 209 

Ham, roasted or boiled, 207 

Mutton, 208 

Pig, roasted, 206 

Sparerib of Pork, 206 

Pork Steaks, 207 

Pigs' Feet, 207 

Sweetbreads, 202 

Sausages, 207 

Tongue, 201 

Veal, cooked, 203, 204, 205 

Venison, 196, 197 

Mock Venison, 209 

Fresh Meat Griddles, 208 

To clarify Meat Jelly, 216 

To remedy Tainted Meats, 209 

Poultry and Game. 

General Observations, 210 

How to choose Poultry and 

Game, 212 

Directions for dressing Poultry 

and Game, 213 

Capon, to roast or boil, 217 

Chickens, to roast or boil,. .216, 217 
Chickens, boiled or fricasseed,.. 217 

Chickens, Curry of, 217 

Chicken Pilau, 217 



Chicken Salad, 220 

Ducks, to roast, 218 

Geese, to roast, 218 

Goose, stewed, 218 

Goose, Mongrel, "Wild Goose,.. 218 
Partridge, to roast, boil, and 

broil, 219 

Pigeons, 219 

Potted Pigeons, 219 

Plovers, Rabbits, 220 

Quails, 219 

Woodcocks, 220 

Pickles. 

General Observations, 220 

Cabbages, pickled, 221 

Cucumbers, pickled, 221 

Green Beans, pickled, 223 

Lemons -.. 222 

Lemon Peel Pickles, 223 

Martinoes, 221 

Mangoes, 222 

Nasturtions, 221 

Nuts, pickled 221 

Peaches, pickled, 222 

Radish Pods, 223 

Basil Vinegar, 222 

Of Milk and its Products. 

General Observations, 223 

Butter, 230 

Bohemian Butter, 231 

Clotted Cream 229 

Cheese, 237 

Rennet, 235 

Miscellaneous Recipes. 

To preserve Beefsteaks, 239 

Preserving Fruits, 239 

Tea Kettles, 240 

Cellars, 240 

Preserving Lard, 241 

To whiten Linen, 241 

Husk Beds, 241 

To take out Mildew, 241 

To preserve Poultry in hot 

Weather,.... 241 

Lime Water, 241 

To allay great Sickness at the 

Stomach, 242 

Camphorated Spirit, 242 

To remove Black Dye from the 

Skin, 242 

Liquorice for a Cough, 242 



INDEX. 



17 



Cologne* 242 

Lip Salve, 243 

To make Soap, 243 

To keep Eggs, 243 

Cold Cream, 243 

Tooth Wash, 243 

Tooth Powders 243 

Cure for sore Throat, 243 

To rub Furniture, 244 

To dislodge a Fish-bone, 244 

Com Plaster, 244 

To cure Chilblains, 244 

Antidote for Poison, 244 

Cure for the Sting of a Bee,.... 244 

Cure for Hydrophobia, 244 

To preserve Furs 245 

Potatoes, 245 

To preserve Green Beans for 

Winter, 245 

To preserve Corn 245 

To preserve Green Peas, 246 

Parched Corn Coffee, 246 

Parsley 246 

Children sick while teething,. . . 246 

Cabbage Leaves, 246 

Cucumber Catchup, 247 

Tomato Catchup, 247 

Hasty Pudding, 247 

Welsh Rabbit, 248 

Roasted Cheese, 248 

Cheese to toast, 248 

Sandwiches 248 



To prevent Iron from rusting, . . 249 
To prevent Lamp Glasses from 

cracking 249 

To transplant Shrubs, 249 

Potato Cheese, 249 

To cleanse the Inside of Jars,.. 249 
To extract Oil from Dresses,... 249 

To remove proud Flesh, 259 

To prevent the spreading of 

Contagion, 250 

To prevent Flatirons sticking,. . 250 

Walnuts, 250 

To preserve Lemon Juice, 250 

Dissolved Chloride of Lime, . . . 250 

To purify the Air, 250 

Blacking, 251 

Washing Fluid, 251 

Water-proof Dressing for 

Shoes, 251 

New Plan for making Shoes 

Water Proof, 251 

Corns, 252 

To press Silk, 252 

To preserve Guns from Salt 

Water, 252 

For Fever and Ague, 252 

For marking Cravats, 253 

Drving Pears, 253 

Of "Diet, 254 

Of the Time of Eating, 258 

Magendie's Report, 261 

Dr. Beaumont's Table, 261 



2* 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



WATER. 



Water serves several important purposes in the an- 
imal economy. Water constitutes an essential part of 
the blood and of the living tissues, and assists in sev- 
eral ways in carrying on the vital processes. In some 
diseases an almost unlimited use of liquids is allowed, 
under various names and shapes. They quench thirst, 
besides assisting the system to throw off inflammation 
and fever. In other maladies, some restriction is neces- 
sary in regard to the quantity of fluids taken. Atten- 
tion to the quality, as well as to the quantity, of the 
water employed as a drink, is very important. Con- 
sidered with regard to quality, the waters furnished us 
by nature are conveniently divisible into three classes, 
viz.: 1st. Common waters, or those employed as 
drinks, or for dressing food, and for other domestic 
purposes. 2d. Sea water, or the water of the ocean. 
3d. Mineral waters, or those waters which belong to 
neither of the above classes, and which possess some 
peculiar properties derived from the presence of one or 
more mineral substances. 

Distilled water can be obtained from either of these 
waters, though usually from the first. 

Common Waters. Under this head are included 
waters known as rain, spring, river, well or pump, lake, 
and marsh waters. 
2 



14 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Rain water is the purest of all natural waters. Its 
purity, however, is subject to some variation. When 
collected in large towns or cities, it is less pure than 
when obtained in the country. The first water which 
falls in a shower brings down with it all the impure 
matters suspended in the atmosphere ; but after a 
while, it falls nearly pure. Whenever rain water is 
collected near large towns, it should be boiled and 
strained before using. As it contains less saline admix- 
ture than other kinds of natural waters, it is more apt 
to take up lead from roofs, cisterns, gutters, and water 
pipes. Though the purest waters are the most whole- 
some, yet very pure water is possessed of one very 
dangerous quality — that of rapidly corroding this sub- 
stance. Lead is sometimes decomposed by water, in 
consequence of galvanic action — in cases where lead 
and iron are in contact, as often happens in the em- 
ployment of iron bars to strengthen and support lead- 
en cisterns, and in the introduction of iron pumps into 
leaden cisterns. The salts contained in the waters 
exert considerable solvent power over the lead, but in 
different degrees. Lead is also abraded by the me- 
chanical action of water running through pipes, and 
thus mixed with the fluid. Some salts, carbonates 
and sulphates especially, will eventually deposit upon 
the surface of the metal a coating sufficient to protect 
it from further action, thus rendering it innoxious. 
Such a coating may be secured by allowing water to 
remain at rest in the pipes for two or three months. 
Such is not the case, however, with all waters ; and 
the precaution is too precarious to be confided in. 
All such combinations of lead with iron or zinc should 
be cautiously avoided. Cisterns have sometimes 
leaden covers, or covers lined with lead; and the 
water evaporating from the cistern is condensed upon 
the lid, upon which it exerts its usual energetic action, 
and drops back into the body of the cistern contam- 
inated with the metal. 



WATER. 15 

Let this be remembered in using refrigerators. 
Whenever any article is put into them to be preserved, 
if any condensation of the moisture from such article 
is perceived on the lid, throw it away ; do not eat 
it, as it is contaminated with lead in the drops of 
"water. Sickness has occurred from the neglect arising 
from ignorance or carelessness in this matter. Never 
put away hot articles in a refrigerator for this reason. 
The continued use of water containing lead produces 
what is called " lead or painter's colic." If the cause 
of the malady be not discovered and remedied, palsy 
usually finally succeeds colic. 

Snoiv water is destitute of air and other gaseous 
matters found in rain. It has been a popular opinion, 
that it was injurious to health, and had a tendency to 
produce bronchocele or goitre. This malady is not 
confined to the poor peasant of the Alps, but occurs in 
Sumatra, where ice and snow are never seen ; while 
the disease is quite unknown in Chili and Thibet, 
although the rivers of these countries are chiefly sup- 
plied by the melting of snow, with which the moun- 
tains are covered. Snow does not quench thirst ; on 
the contrary, it increases it, and, according to Captain 
Ross, the natives of the arctic regions prefer enduring 
the utmost extremity of thirst rather than attempt to 
remove it by eating snow. When melted, however, it 
is equally efficacious with other waters. 

Spring- water is rain water, which, having strained 
through the earth, reappears at the surface. During 
its progress, it takes up some soluble matters, which 
vary according to the nature of the soil. Its constitu- 
ents are similar to well water. 

Paver water is a mixture of rain and spring waters. 
Decomposing organic matter, in suspension or solution, 
is found, more or less, in all river water. Ordinarily, 
the quantity may be insufficient to act injuriously. 
Living beings, both animal and vegetable, constitute 
another of the impurities of river water. 



16 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Well water is, in its ordinary composition, similar 
to river water ; but the earthy salts are found in much 
larger quantity. It usually decomposes and curdles 
soap, and is then called hard water, to distinguish it 
from river and other waters, which are readily mingled 
with soap, and are termed soft waters. It is the pres- 
ence of these salts which gives well water the hard 
feeling, and their absence which makes rain water feel 
soft. The most common of these salts is sulphate of 
lime. By boiling, the acid is expelled, and the lime is 
precipitated on the sides of the vessel, constituting the 
fur of the tea-kettle and the crust of boilers. Hard 
water is a less perfect solvent than soft water: hence, 
in the preparation of infusions and decoctions, and for 
many domestic purposes, as in tea-making, it is infe- 
rior to soft water. 

Purification of Common Waters. By filtration water 
is cleansed of living beings, and of all suspended im- 
purities. Substances in solution are not got rid of by 
this process. Boiling' destroys animal and vegetable 
life, expels air or carbonic acid, and causes the lime to 
be precipitated. Distillation, when properly conducted, 
is the most effectual method of purifying it. Alum is 
sometimes used to clear muddy water. Two or three 
grains are sufficient for a quart of water. But this 
renders the water hard. 

Sea Water is the water of the ocean. Taken inter- 
nally, it excites thirst, readily nauseates, and, in full 
doses, occasions vomiting and purging. Employed as 
a bath, it more speedily and certainly causes the reac- 
tion and glow; and, consequently, the sea-water bath 
may be used for a longer period, without causing ex- 
haustion, than the common water bath. It is a com- 
mon opinion that people are less likely to take cold, 
after the use of salt water as a bath, than after the em- 
ployment of common water. The distillation of salt 
water, at sea, for the use of mariners, is an old sugges- 
tion, and is, I believe, now carried into operation at a 
moderate expense. 



TEA. 17 

Mineral Waters are waters which belong to neither 
of the preceding classes. In consequence of their pe- 
culiar chemical properties, they are not used as drinks, 
or for the purposes of domestic economy. 



TEA. 

It may seem a very simple matter to make a nice 
cup of tea or coffee. Simple as it would appear, I 
think most people will agree with me that it is seldom 
found in perfection. 

In China, where the tea plant is indigenous, the na- 
tives drink it constantly — very strong, and usually, very 
hot. They never make use of the green teas, which 
are prepared solely for " the barbarians." We probably 
derive our style of cup and saucer from the Chinese, 
although we have contrived to divert the saucer from 
its original purpose, it being employed by the natives 
as a cover to the cup ; both to keep the beverage hot 
and to prevent the evaporation of its delicate flavor. 
Each cup is supported on a stand of carved wood, to 
prevent any disagreeable consequences arising from the 
heat of the vessel. Those who fancy to drown them- 
selves, at each meal, in three or four cups of the de- 
coction of this most fragrant herb, would feel hardly 
satisfied with the extremely small cup which suffices a 
Chinaman. 

To make tea in perfection, the kettle should not be 
filled over night; or, if for the evening meal, immedi- 
ately after dinner — "in order to be well boiled at the 
appointed hour." 

All spring water contains some air in solution ; and 
to this is chiefly owing its sparkling taste, which it is 
not found to possess if it is allowed to stand any length 
of time, or to boil : therefore water, to be sparkling 
and bright, should be freshly drawn, heated quickly to 
the boiling point, immediately poured upon the dry 
2* 



18 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

leaves, allowed, for a few minutes, to steep, and then 
served hot upon the table. 



COFFEE. 

This matter of boiling water should be attended to 
in the making of coffee. 

You cannot have nice coffee unless great care is 
taken in roasting^ not burning; the nut. Many people 
send their coffee to the bakers to be both roasted and 
ground. Doubtless, the cook is saved much trouble 
where this is done, and a better prepared article is ob- 
tained. If so managed, the powder should be kept in 
air-tight vessels, constantly well corked, or the good- 
ness will be lost. Judgment should be exercised in the 
quantity which is sent to be prepared at one time. 
Of course, the fresher the coffee, the higher and better 
will be the flavor of the decoction. 

If roasted at home, the nut should be well dried in 
a moderate oven before exposing it to a severe heat; 
when put over the fire, it should be constantly stirred 
with a wooden stick, or spatula, kept for this purpose. 
When of a nice brown color, it may be considered as 
roasted. Some persons fancy that a small piece of 
butter stirred into the coffee, just before you take the 
nuts from the fire, enriches it greatly. When removed 
from the fire, these nuts should be instantly poured into 
a cold vessel, or stirred till the one in which they have 
been roasted is somewhat cool. 

Coffee. — Take an egg or two, according to the quan- 
tity of powder used; one is sufficient for two gills, and 
mix it with the dry coffee ; this can be either roiled into 
balls or left in one mass. Put this mixture into your 
Roffee-pot, (with or without the eggshell, as you pre- 
fer,) pour the boiling hot water upon it, and allow it to 
boil about ten minutes. You will find it will need 
little time to settle, but will pour, directly from boiling, 



COFFEE. 10 

into your urn clear and transparent. The egg adds 
greatly to the richness of this beverage. The egg 
should not be used, unless carefully mixed with the 
powder ; otherwise, in pouring your hot water upon the 
egg, it is cooked, and no benefit is derived from it. 

Another Recipe. Take a piece of dry fishskin, 
about an inch square, which has been well washed 
and dried ; put it into your coffee-pot, with a coffee- 
cup of the ground powder, and pour boiling water on 
it. Let it boil ten or fifteen minutes ; be exceedingly 
careful that it does not boil over, as also that it be 
stirred once or twice while boiling. Remove the pot 
from the fire, and pour out some of the liquid into a 
cup, and back again, once or twice. Pour it out 
through the nose, that all the grounds which have 
boiled into it shall be cleared away from it. A cup of 
cold water, now added, will assist in settling it. Set 
the pot where the coffee will be kept hot, without boil- 
ing, to clarify, about five or ten minutes. Be careful, 
when the coffee is transferred from the pot to the urn, 
that the grounds are not shaken or disturbed ; if 
they are, your drink will be both thick and muddy. 

Coffee. — Made in a Big-gin. To make a quart: 
first, put a pint of boiling water through the filter to 
warm it, which pour away ; then put a cupful of 
ground coffee upon the inner filter, upon which put the 
other tin, then the grating; pour over it half a pint 
of boiling water ; this will wet the grains through. Let 
it stand four or five minutes ; then pour a pint and a 
half more. After this is drained out, pour it again 
through the filter, and it is ready for the table. Served 
with boiled milk or cream. Some biggins have heaters 
or spirit lamps attached to them, which keep the water 
always boiling. 

Coffee. — French fashion. To a pint of made 
coffee add a pint of boiling milk; warm these together, 
and serve hot. This is used for breakfast. After din- 
ner, the French seldom, if ever, use either milk or 
cream with their coffee. 



20 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Instead of fishskin, which is thought by some to 
impart a disagreeable flavor to the coffee, a piece, an 
inch square, of American isinglass can be used to 
refine and clarify coffee. 

I will add here Monsieur Soyer's recipe for the 
making of coffee. He is the celebrated chef of one 
of the most sumptuous of the London club houses, 
and his opinion should be decisive upon any matter 
in cookery. The plan is original, certainly, and not 
difficult to execute. 

Coffee. Put two ounces of ground coffee into a 
stewpan, which set upon the fire, stirring the powder 
round with a spoon until quite hot ; then pour over a 
pint of boiling water ; cover closely for five minutes, 
and pass it through a cloth ; warm it again, and serve 
hot. 

The cloth through which the coffee is passed should 
be immediately washed and dried for the next occa- 
sion. This method has one great advantage, in the 
shortness of time necessary to obtain a cup of coffee. 



COCOA. 

Cocoa. Many persons purchase the nut as im- 
ported in bags ; roast it, as coffee, and crack it in a 
mortar. Then boil it well in water. Doubtless the 
real cocoa taste is obtained in this way, and you are 
sure you get a pure article. 

Shells. These require long boiling in water to be 
agreeable. After being boiled sufficiently long, pour 
off the liquid, and add milk to it, which heat, and then 
serve hot. Use a heaping tea-cupful to a quart of 
water. 

Cracked Cocoa is the nut and shell together. To 
be prepared in the same manner as the above. There 
will be more oily matter in this liquid than in shells, 
which makes it disliked by some persons. 



DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 21 

Chocolate. Scrape two ounces (two squares) of 
the cake, which put into a saucepan, with a gill of 
warm water, over the fire, stirring it constantly until 
rather thick, and then add gradually a half pint of 
boiling milk. To be served hot. 

Mulled or Frothed Chocolate. The Italians 
use a regular chocolate-pot, the handle of which comes 
through the lid. Put into such a pot two ounces of 
chocolate, (scraped,) over which pour gradually a pint 
of boiling milk. Put on the cover, with the muller in- 
side, which keep moving by the handle ; place the pot 
on the fire ; when hot and very frothy, it is ready to be 
served. 

French Chocolate comes mixed with sugar and 
highly flavored, in tin canisters. This can be prepared 
on the table. Put a tea-spoon and a half of the choc- 
olate powder into a cup, which fill up by degrees with 
boiling milk, stirring until dissolved. 



DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 

Beef Tea. Cut a pound of solid lean beef into 
dice an inch square, and put it into a saucepan, with 
a salt-spoon of salt, a clove, and an onion. Stir the 
meat round until some of the juice is extracted ; then 
add a quart of water. Let it simmer for half an hour. 
Skim it well. If desired plain, omit the vegetables. 

Beef Tea. After cutting up the meat and salting 
it a little, put it into a wide-mouthed bottle and cork 
it. Set the bottle into a kettle of cold water, and boil 
it one hour and a half. You get in this way the true 
essence of meat. It can be diluted with water. Strain 
and squeeze well the beef; put it over the fire to 
scald ; skim it, and add boiling water. 

Chicken Tea. Take half of a chicken ; put it into 
cold water, and set it over the fire to simmer, with a 
little salt. Skim it well. One half hour is sufficient 
to make this drink. 



22 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Oatmeal Gruel. Have ready, boiling in a sauce- 
pan, a pint of water with a half tea-spoon of salt ; add 
two table-spoonfuls of oatmeal, previously wet with 
cold water. Stir it well. Let it boil from fifteen to 
twenty minutes. Grate nutmeg, and add sugar, to 
your taste. Some persons like butter added. 

Gruel from Groats. Proceed as above, but 
adding rather more water, and boiling a few minutes 
longer. Some eat this gruel with the groats in it. If 
objected to, strain it, and season as above. 

Sago Gruel. Wash carefully two table-spoonfuls 
of sago. Put it into a saucepan with a pint of cold 
water. Stir it and simmer it until thickish and clear ; 
then add nutmeg and salt, and a little butter. A glass 
of wine improves this much. 

Rice Water. Put a quart of water to boil in a 
saucepan, with a cupful of well washed rice. Place it 
on the fire, and let it boil gently until the rice is very 
soft. Then strain it ; press the rice well. Sweeten it 
either with sugar or honey. Drink this lukewarm. 

Apple Water. Roast some half dozen apples ; 
when cooked, pour over them a pint of boiling water. 
Mash and strain them. Add sugar or honey. 

Barley Water. Wash clean one ounce of pearl 
barley ; put it into one quart of water. Simmer it an 
hour. When half done put in a slice or two of fresh 
lemon. Sweeten to your taste. Wine, if you choose. 

Barley Water. Wash an ounce of pearl barley 
and put it into three pints of water, with an ounce of 
sweet almonds beaten fine ; a few slices of fresh 
lemon. Add sugar and more lemon juice, if you 
choose. 

Caudle. One milk biscuit pounded and sifted. 
Pour over it one quart of water, and boil it until it be- 
comes perfectly soft. Reduce it, by boiling, to one 
half. When cool, add two eggs, well beaten, and three 
glasses of wine. Stir them together. Add sugar and 
nutmeg. 



DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 23 

Caudle. Two wine glasses of water, with two and 
one half glasses of wine ; one milk biscuit. Put them 
to boil. Have ready one egg, beaten well, which stir 
into the biscuit, when cool. Add sugar to the taste. 
Put these over the fire ; boil them well, and strain for 
use. 

Raspberry Vinegar Beverage. Put two table 
spoonfuls of raspberry vinegar into a pitcher, and pour 
over it a half pint of boiling water. When cold, it is 
ready to drink. Any kind of fruit sirup can be made 
into quite a palatable drink, in the same way. 

Fresh Fruit Water. Take a quart of fresh straw- 
berries or raspberries ; rub them through a sieve into a 
bowl, which sweeten well with sugar ; add the juice 
of a lemon, and a quart of water. Currant water is 
made in the same way, omitting the lemon. 

Fig and Apple Beverage. Boil two quarts of 
water, in which put eight fresh figs ; open them ; cut 
two or three apples into six or eight pieces; let the 
whole boil together twenty minutes. Strain it. Lem- 
on may be used instead of the apples, adding sugar or 
honey. 

Toast Water. Toast one good sized slice of 
bread of a nice yellow color ; put it into a bowl, and 
pour over it a pint of boiling water. Cover it until 
cold. Then strain it, and it is ready for use. Do not 
omit to strain it; for if the bread remains in, it will 
cause fermentation, especially in summer. 

Indian Meal Gruel. Wet a spoonful of meal 
with a small quantity of water, which stir into a half 
pint of boiling water ; add a little salt, and let it boil 
from one half to a full hour. Do not skim it. Nut- 
meg may be added, with sugar, to the taste. 

Ground Rice Gruel is made as above, only boil- 
ing it for about half a minute. This, and the above 
recipe, may be made with milk, if preferred. 

A refreshing Drink in a Fever. Put a little 
sage, two sprigs of balm, and a little sorrel, into a 



24 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

stone jug. Peel thin a small lemon; slice it, and put 
in a bit of the peel. Pour over these one quart of boil- 
ing water ; sweeten to your taste. Cover it well until 
cold. Drinks can be made by pouring boiling water 
over preserved fruits and tamarinds ; let them stand 
until cold ; then strain, and they are fit for use. 

A Pleasant Drink. Dissolve a quarter of an ounce 
of isinglass in a pint of milk, and just bring it to a 
boil. Sweeten it to your taste, adding a little peach 
water, or boil a few peach leaves in the milk, to 
flavor it. 

Orgeat. One pound of blanched almonds ; rub 
them to a paste in a mortar ; add, gradually, two 
spoonfuls of peach water. Continue to pound them, 
adding one quart of boiling water. Sweeten to your 
taste. 

Orgeat. Beat two ounces of almonds, blanched, 
with a spoonful of rose or peach water, to a paste ; 
then add, gradually, one quart of milk, or milk and 
water. Sweeten to your taste. Half an ounce of 
gum arabic, dissolved, may be added. Brandy, if ex- 
pedient. 

Lemon Water. Cut a lemon into thin slices, and 
put it into a pitcher with some sugar. Pour over it a 
pint of boiling water. Cover it close, and let it stand 
until cold. Ice it, or not, as you please. 

Lemon Shrub. To fourteen pounds of white sugar 
add eighteen gills of water. Clarify it, over the fire, 
with the whites of four to six eggs. To this sirup add 
the strained juice of eight dozen of lemons, and sim- 
mer it a little. When cool, bottle it for use. You may 
add, if you see fit, three pints of old brandy. 

Lemon Sirup. One ounce of tartaric acid, dis- 
solved in one wine pint of water. Two pounds of 
sugar. Dissolve the sugar over a gentle fire, and sim- 
mer it, with the whites of two eggs, to the consistency 
of a sirup. The rind of two lemons, grated or cut 
thin, put into the sirup, when boiling, is an improve- 
ment. When cold, bottle it. 



DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 25 

Punch. Squeeze eighteen lemons on four pounds 
of loaf sugar, pounded fine ; one pint of brandy. 
Before adding the brandy, strain the lemon. Put it 
into bottles, and, when used, add water. It will keep 
a long time, with a little sweet oil put over the top. 
By putting raw cotton upon the oil when you uncork 
a bottle, all the oil can be removed. 

Imperial. Two ounces of cream of tartar; two 
pounds of loaf sugar ; three lemons cut in slices ; pour 
upon these two gallons of boiling water. Let it stand 
until cold. Strain and bottle it, and in ten days this 
will be fit for use. This quantity will fill nine or ten 
bottles. 

A good Drink. Five gills of molasses ; one quar- 
ter pound of tartaric acid ; one ounce of essence of 
sassafras ; pour over these three pints of boiling water. 
When cold, bottle it. This will fill four or five bottles. 
Add, when drunk, one half tea-spoon of soda to each 
tumbler of liquid. 

Hook Punch. Half of the juice and peel of a 
good-sized lemon, With a piece of ice the size of a 
whole lemon, a large tea-cup of powdered sugar, and. 
a wine glass and a half of maraschino cordial. Then 
add a pint of Holland gin. Mix these together, and, 
just before serving, pour in the contents of a common- 
sized bottle of iced soda water. 

Regent's Punch. One half box of guava or cur- 
rant jelly ; one half of a lemon ; three fourths of a 
tumbler of sugar ; one tumbler of brandy ; four tum- 
blers of green tea ; one bottle of Champagne ; ice. 

Webster Punch. One and three fourths tumblers 
of brandy ; one third of a tumbler of Jamaica rum ; one 
tumbler of sugar; peel of one lemon, sliced ; juice of 
one half a lemon ; juice of one orange ; three tumblers 
of water ; flavored with wine glass of some cordial. 

Wine Whey. Boil a pint of new milk, and 
sweeten to your taste. Remove it off the fire, and 
pour in two glasses of good wine. Stir it and let it 
3 



26 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

stand to coagulate. Strain it, and grate a little nutmeg 
over it. 

Mulled Wine. Boil equal quantities of wine and 
water with some pounded mace, cloves, and sugar to 
your taste. Beat up any quantity of eggs, the whites 
and yolks separately, according to the quantity of wine 
used. Three eggs to a tumbler of wine. Mix the 
eggs together well after being beaten, and pour grad- 
ually, stirring all the time, the boiling wine over the 
eggs. 

Hop Beer. One handful of hops; one half pint 
of molasses ; one bucket of water ; one pint of yeast. 

Ginger Beer. One coffee cup of ginger, mixed 
well with three pints of molasses. Pour over this six 
gallons of boiling water. When milkwarm, add one 
half pint of yeast. After this is fermented sufficiently, 
bottle it. 

Sarsaparilla Mead. Three pounds of sugar ; three 
ounces of tartaric acid ; one ounce of cream of tar- 
tar; one ounce of flour; one ounce of essence of 
sarsaparilla or sassafras, and three quarts of water. 
Strain and bottle it, and let it stand ten days. 

English Ginger Beer. One ounce and one half 
of ginger ; one ounce of cream of tartar ; one pound 
of sugar ; four quarts of boiling water ; two fresh lem- 
ons, sliced. Pour the water boiling over these ingredi- 
ents. When cold, add two gills of fresh yeast, and in 
twenty-four hours bottle it. It improves by keeping, 
unless the weather is exceeding hot. 

An invigorating Drink for a Convalescent. Take 
one egg, and beat to a stiff froth the white ; beat also 
the yolk, with sugar to your taste ; mix these together, 
adding a glass of good wine, well stirred in. Fill up 
the tumbler with milk, or drink it simple. 

Currant Wine. To one quart of currant juice add 
three quarts of water, and three pounds of sugar. Put 
it into a covered stone jar, and let it stand three or four 
weeks in a cool place. Then strain and bottle it. 



BREAD. 



27 



Currant Shrub. Boil currant juice five minutes 
with sugar, a pound of sugar to a pint of juice. Stir 
it while it cools ; then bottle it. Two or three spoon- 
fuls in a tumbler of water make an agreeable drink. 

" Racahout des Arabes." Half a pound of best 
French chocolate, one pound of rice flour, a quarter 
of a pound of nice arrowroot, and half a pound of 
sifted loaf sugar. These materials are to be thor- 
oughly mixed and rubbed together. A dessert-spoon- 
ful of this compound should be slightly moistened 
with milk, or with water, as you may prefer, then 
stirred into a pint of boiling milk. Excellent food for 
invalids or convalescents. 



BREAD. 

The art of making bread is among the earliest 
modes adopted by mankind for the preparation of 
food. Unleavened bread, of some material or other, 
is made use of by nearly all the nations of the earth. 
Some make it from grains, some from the bark of trees, 
while others use roots and fruits. The North American 
Indians contrive, by pounding the maize or Indian corn, 
to make a sort of cake, which they bake on hot stones 
or in hot ashes. This serves them, and occasionally 
the Anglo-Saxon race, as a substitute for leavened 
bread. 

All materials for the making of bread are ground 
into meal, more or less fine, then mixed with water, 
well kneaded, and baked in an oven or on hot. cinders. 
By this process, the unleavened bread or biscuits are 
made. It must be very obvious, that this very cohesive, 
firm and compact bread, must be slowly digested. 
Notwithstanding this objection, biscuits sometimes 
agree better with the dyspeptic than fermented breads. 
To make the leavened bread, or the ordinary loaf bi'ead 
of families, yeast or leaven (old dough, in a state of 



28 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

fermentation) must be added to the flour, together with 
salt and water. 

The origin and etymology of the word bread are not 
without interest. Bread is brayed grain, from the verb 
to bray, or pound; expressive of the old method of 
making the meal. Bread is, therefore, something 
brayed ; as brayed wheat or flour, brayed maize or In- 
dian meal. 

Dough comes from the Anglo-Saxon word deaw- 
ian, to wet, to moisten. Dough means wetted flour 
or meal. The bread or brayed grain becomes dough 
by being moistened. Loaf comes from the Anglo- 
Saxon word lif-ian, to raise, to lift up. Thus, after 
the grain is brayed or ground, made into dough by 
being wet, and the yeast added, it becomes loaf, or 
raised bread. Leaven is derived from the French word 
lever, to raise, or the Saxon word lif-ian, above men- 
tioned. 

The first requisite to obtain good bread, is to procure 
good flour. Most truly is bread " the staff of life ; " 
and as truly is good bread necessary to the comfort 
of all ; and, being an essential of good housekeeping, 
no pains should be spared to obtain a first-rate article 
of flour. 

Physicians will agree with me, I think, that many of 
the sicknesses of children arise from eating ill-made 
or ill-cooked bread. Many adults, doubtless, may 
thank their careless or ignorant cooks for various dys- 
peptic feelings, rendering their existence a burden. 

Good flour should not be pure white in color ; that 
of a creamy, yellowish-white shade makes the best 
bread. To judge of flour, take a portion in your hand 
and press it firmly between your thumb and forefinger, 
at the same time rubbing it gently, for the purpose of 
making a level surface upon the flour. By this means 
you can satisfy yourself as to its color. If it feels 
loose and lively in the hand, it is of good quality ; if, 
.on the contrary, it feels dead, or damp, or clammy, it is 



BREAD. 



29 



old and bad flour. By rubbing it in this way with a 
spoon, or other metallic article, garlic may be detected 
by the smell. 

The next requisite is excellent yeast; and with these 
materials, added to a little salt and water, no family 
should be without prime bread. 

The yeast which is added to the dough, in baking, 
acts in the same way as when it is added to the sweet 
wort of the brewer. It induces a fermentation, by 
which the sugar of the flour is changed to carbonic 
acid and alcohol. The carbonic acid is liberated in 
the form of minute bubbles of gas, throughout the 
whole substance of the dough, and causes it to rise ; 
the alcohol is disfilled off in the oven. " Carbonic acid 
gas is injurious only when drawn into the lnngs. It 
then acts not only as a poison, but, if breathed in large 
quantities, actually drowns the individual breathing it. 
Cats have been drowned while endeavoring to pass 
across the bread trough of a bakehouse, the trough 
having been filled with gas by the fermentation of the 
dough." If too much water has been added to the 
dough, or if it have not been sufficiently kneaded, or 
if the flour be too finely ground, or if it be not suffi- 
ciently tenacious in its nature, then these bubbles will 
run into each other, and will form large air holes in the 
heart of the loaf, which will give that open, irregularly 
porous appearance, so much disliked by the skiliul 
housewife. 

Good bread should be full of small pores, and uni- 
formly light. Such bread is made from strong- flour ; 
that is, flour which will rise well, will retain its bulk, 
and will bear the largest quantity of water. Good 
flour, in baking, takes up half its weight of water. 

hi some parts of Europe, it appears to have been the 
practice to adulterate the bread with some foreign ad- 
mixture ; sometimes with a small quantity of sulphate 
of copper — deadly poison — at other times with a por- 
tion of alum, alcohol, or rum. All these adulterations 
3* 



30 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

permit the use of inferior flour, giving the bread a 
fairer color, raising it well, and causing it to hold more 
water, but rendering it unwholesome. 

That our bakers use something more than yeast to 
render their breads light, and to produce the greatest 
quantity from their flour, cannot be doubted. For 
the benefit of their customers' health, I trust they 
eschew the poisonous ingredients. During the past 
year* some cases occurred in Boston of poison from 
the eating of cream cakes. It is probable that copper, 
or some similar mixture, had been added to the flour. 

Common salt makes the paste stronger, and causes 
it to retain more water ; so that the addition of salt is 
a real gain. 

A little rice flour, in proportion of a seventh part, is 
said to cause wheat flour to absorb more water ; if so, 
of course it is economical to use it. 

The meal of Indian corn, (maize,) added, in any 
proportion to suit the taste, enables wheat flour to hold 
more water. 

All mixtures of flour, to which is added sugar or 
molasses, rise quicker and in a less warm atmosphere 
than without it. 

The grains from which meal and bread are made are 
composed of starch and gluten, with a small portion of 
sugar. On grinding the grain, the husks and the parts 
nearest to them, which contain the oily matter, separate, 
forming the bran ; and there is left the inner, whiter 
part, called meal. The gluten is tougher and harder to 
grind than the starch ; so that the white meal or flour, 
by frequent bolting or sifting, becomes richer in starch, 
while the unbolted meal is richer in gluten. The nutri- 
tive property of wheat meal is ascribed mainly to the 
gluten which it contains, the viscidity or tenacity of 
which confers on wheat flour its peculiar excellence for 
the manufacture of maccaroni, vermicelli, and similar 
pastes, which are made by a kind of wire drawing. The 
wheat of the south of Europe, being more abundant in 



BREAD. 



31 



gluten than our own, is particularly adapted to this use. 
That flour which contains the most gluten makes the 
lightest and most porous bread — bread that is most 
digestible ; therefore, the unbolted meal is most digest- 
ible. Bread, therefore, made with undressed flour, or 
even with an extra quantity of bran, is the best form 
in which farinaceous matters can be taken, in almost 
all the varieties of dyspepsia, accompanied by obstinate 
constipation. " This is a remedy, the efficacy of which 
has long been admitted, yet the greater part of man- 
kind choose to consult their taste rather than their 
reason, and by officiously separating what nature has 
beneficially combined, entail on themselves much dis- 
comfort and misery." 

Gluten has been considered so unobjectionable a food, 
in some particular diseases, that it has been recently 
used in the preparation of what has been called gluten 
bread. 

Experiments have been tried with dogs, and other 
animals, by feeding them on gluten. These animals 
continued to use it without distaste for three months, 
uninterruptedly, and preserved all the marks of excel- 
lent health. 

In the baking of bread,- success depends greatly on 
experience, not only in the mere act of baking the 
dough, but in the use of the particular apparatus em- 
ployed. So many and so various are the inventions of 
modern times to accomplish this branch of cookery — 
some using cooking stoves, heated by wood or by coal, 
some coal ranges ; others, again, the brick oven, heated 
with wood — that but few rules can be laid down, and 
those only of most general application. In the process 
of baking, the carbonic acid which caused the bread to 
rise, with the alcohol and part of the water, is evapo- 
rated by the heat. The " cellular partitions " of the 
dough become so fixed, in baking, that they retain their 
form even after cooling. If the heat of the oven is not 
sufficient, or the dough be too moist, then these par- 



32 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

titions harden too slowly, or sufficient water is not 
expelled — this is slack baking;. 

Brown and thirded breads contain more gluten, and 
therefore retain more water, and harden more slowly, 
than the simple flour bread in which starch predomi- 
nates. This is the reason why these doughs require a 
longer exposure to heat, or need what is technically 
called by the housewife a good soaking. Rye is said 
to absorb more moisture from the air than any other 
grain ; therefore, all bread made from this meal needs 
a longer application of heat, and keeps moister, after 
being baked, than that made from other grain. From 
rye is made the famous black bread ( Sch wartzbrot) of 
Germany, upon which the peasants live. Spiced rye 
cakes were for a long period greatly in vogue in Europe, 
from the time of the Romans to that of Louis XIV, 

Starch is converted by heat into a gum, called dex~ 
trine, by chemists. A part of the starch of the dough, 
particularly on the outside or crust of the bread, under- 
goes this change in the oven. Bakers rub over with 
water their hot loaves and hot rolls, and return them 
for a few minutes to the oven, in order to produce the 
bright, shiny surface which is generally seen on them. 
Here, this dextrine, or gum, is slightly dissolved by the 
wetting, and forms a lustrous coating over the bread. 

The art of baking with mineral coal can only be 
acquired by practice. 

Brick ovens are heated by the bakers with dry fag- 
ots. In our private establishments, soft or hard split 
wood is used. For baking brown bread and beans, the 
oven wood should be in larger sticks than for white 
bread and pies alone ; so that it shall be about two 
hours in burning out. A heap of kindling stuff should 
be put into the centre of the oven on the brick floor, 
upon which, pile, " Harry-house fashion," your wood ; 
open the flue, and then set it on fire. There is no oc- 
casion to leave the door open if your oven have the 
patent iron door with a small slide, which may remain 



BREAD. 33 

unclosed while the wood bums. As soon as your wood 
is sufficiently kindled, push back the burning mass as 
far as possible, so that the blaze may pass over the 
whole surface of the bricks. Stir up the coals two or 
three times, and when the wood is all burnt down and 
reduced to a mass of live coals, the oven will be hot. 
It is easy to find out how many sticks of a given size 
are necessary for baking articles which require a strong 
heat, and also for those baked with less. To bake brown 
bread and beans with flour bread, cakes and pies, at the 
same time, the oven should be heated to. a strong, solid 
heat. Do not let the coals remain in the oven till they 
are no longer red. They must not look dead, but like 
hot embers. It is a good plan, when the oven is 
cleared out, to leave a few coals in the back part, to be 
put round those pans which require the most heat. 
Have ready a slice shovel to clear out nearly all the 
coals, then sweep the oven floor free from ashes with 
an old broom, well wet and kept for this purpose. 
Close the door for a minute or two, to allow the dust 
to settle, then try the heat within. Throw in a little 
flour ; if it browns immediately, the oven is too hot, and 
should remain open from three to five minutes. Shut 
the flue. Put into your oven those things which need 
the strong heat, waiting some ten or fifteen minutes 
to put in those which require moderate heat. Close 
the door, and leave the articles to bake. When cooked, 
slip the slice under them and remove them out on it. 

The tin ovens, or "Yankee bakers," that have a furnace 
underneath with a chimney pipe, and can be set out 
of doors, are convenient in summer, and suitable for all 
articles that require quick, but not solid heat. They 
must be kept very bright, in order to reflect the heat 
effectively. Tin kitchens — in fact, all cooking vessels 
of tin — should be often scoured with sand, to be kept 
clean and bright. If charcoal is used in these or any 
other vessel, it should be first burnt on the hearth or 
stove before putting it into the baker. If this be not 



34 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

done, be exceedingly careful, and set your utensil into 
the free air, or keep your kitchen doors constantly open. 
The gas arising from charcoal, in a close room, is so 
deleterious as to produce death. 

To bake on an iron griddle, you must either hang it 
over the fire, or set it over hot coals on the hearth, or 
on the top of your cooking stove or range. If used in 
the open fireplace, care must be taken that the fire 
burn bright and clear and free from smoke, or the cakes 
will be blackened and burnt. The griddle must be 
strictly clean. 9 While you are baking, it will require 
frequent scraping with a knife. If it is well scraped 
after every cake is taken off, it will not want so much 
greasing, as there will be less stickiness after the first 
few cakes are cooked. Some butter, tied in a clean 
rag and laid on a plate, must be kept ready all the time 
to rub over the griddle between the baking of the cakes. 
A slice of the fat of either fresh or salted pork, stuck 
on a fork, is preferable to butter. Still better than either, 
provide yourself with a soapstone griddle, which needs 
no greasing, and saves your house from being perfumed 
with the effluvia of burning fat. It has been stated to 
me, that fine salt, rubbed over the iron griddle, will 
prevent cakes from sticking. 



YEAST. 

No great skill is necessary to make good yeast ; still, 
much care is required, that all the minutiae be well 
attended to. Most housekeepers will find they must 
attend personally to this, in order to insure to their 
families decent bread. The hop-water must be boiling- 
hot, when strained upon the flour — which some per- 
sons first moisten with cold water, to prevent it from 
lumping. This I do not consider necessary, as the 
lumps work out in the rising, and there is danger that 
your flour will not be scalded sufficiently to preserve it 



YEAST. 35 

from souring. The vessel in which the yeast is put 
must have been thoroughly cleaned and scalded, so 
that none of the old yeast shall remain upon it. A 
wide-mouthed jar is preferable to any other vessel, as 
you can have ocular demonstration of the neatness of 
your domestic. Glass bottles are not strong enough. 
They are apt to burst, either from the expansion of the 
yeast or carelessness in cleansing them. To clean the 
vessel, stir in a spoonful of saleratus to the warm 
water, cover it up tightly, and let it remain until cold. 
The new yeast must not be too hot or too cold when 
the old is added to ferment it. The proper tempera- 
ture is about milkwarm. 

Yeast. A handful of hops, boiled in three pints of 
water ; sift a pint bowl of flour into some vessel, with 
a spoonful of salt. Strain the hop water boiling hot 
upon this, one third at a time. After straining one 
third, of the water upon the flour, stir it well ; then 
add more, and stir again. When milkwarm, put in a 
cup of yeast to ferment it. If the old yeast be acid, 
correct it, before stirring it into the new, with soda or 
saleratus. 

Yeast. Boil a double handful of hops in three 
quarts of water, about one half an hour. Boil also 
separately fourteen good-sized potatoes. Mash these 
to a perfectly smooth paste ; pour upon them gradu- 
ally the boiling hop water. Add, when milk warm, a 
gill of yeast. Set in a warm place to ferment. 

Potato Yeast. Bruise three large, boiled potatoes ; 
pour on them a pint of boiling water. Let this stand 
until milkwarm ; then add a gill of yeast, with two 
spoonfuls of flour. Set in a warm place to rise. 

Dry Yeast. Boil four ounces of hops in six quarts 
of water ; boil it away to about one half. Strain it 
boiling hot on to three pints of flour and one spoon- 
ful of salt. When milkwarm, add one half pint of 
sweet yeast. When this has risen to be light, knead 
into it Indian meal enough to make it stiff. Form it 
into loaves, and cut it in thin slices, and lay them on 



36 THE AMERICAN: MATRON. 

clean boards to dry. Put it where there is a free circu- 
lation of air in the sun. After one side has dried so 
as to be a little crisped, turn the slices over, and when 
both sides are dry, break them up into smaller pieces ; 
it will dry quicker. Put them again into the sun for 
two or three days. Stir them over with your hand, 
so that all parts will be equally exposed to the heat. 
When perfectly dry, put them into a bag, which hang 
in a cool, dry place. The greatest trouble in making 
this yeast is the danger of stormy weather. If the 
day after it is made should not be fair, it will answer 
to put the jar in some cool place, and wait a day 
before putting in the meal. 

When to be used, take a good handful for five loaves 
of bread ; soak it in a very little warm water until 
soft, fifteen minutes will be time enough ; then stir 
it into the sponge prepared for the bread. This yeast 
is convenient in the summer season. 

All good managers will look out and renew their 
yeast before the old stock is exhausted. A small bag, 
of any thin material, can be kept in which to boil the 
hops ; by this, you are saved the trouble of straining. 
After the yeast is sufficiently well risen, it must be put 
into a cool place, and always kept tightly covered. If 
it should be at all acid when to be used, correct the 
acidity with soda or saleratus. It will not make the 
bread so nice as when the yeast is sweet. 

Portable Yeast. This is probably a mixture of 
bicarbonate of soda with muriatic acid^ or cream of 
tartar.* It is a patented article, comes done up in tin 

* Dr. C. T. Jackson says, in reply to inquiries as to the use of 
cream of tartar and soda in making bread, that " this chemical process 
is not regarded as more than a poor substitute for the process of fer- 
mentation, and is only justifiable in cases of urgency, when there is 
not time to raise bread properly. It cheats us out of the sugar and 
dextrine, which gives sweetness and flavor to properly fermented 
bread, and substitutes a dose of Rochelle salts in their place, and 
that salt is mixed with dried starch and unaltered gluten. Of course, 
siAih bread is very objectionable, though it is not poisonous ; and, for 
my own part, I prefer to keep my food and medicine separate." 



PORTABLE YEAST. 37 

canisters, to be obtained at any grocery store. By this 
means very porous bread can be made. 

In the Pharmaceutical Journal several recipes are 
given for making unfermented bread. The following 
recipe by Dr. Smith, of Leeds, England, is given : — 

" Five pounds of flour ; one half ounce (apotheca- 
ries' weight) of carbonate of soda ; one half tea-spoon- 
ful of carbonate of ammonia ; four tea-spoonfuls of 
common salt. Mix these well together, and then add 
the following solution : Two and one half pints of 
cold water, with five tea-spoonfuls of muriatic acid. 

" This bread is easily made, requires little labor, no 
kneading, or time for the dough to rise. It costs a 
trifle more than bread made with yeast, but has the 
advantage of keeping longer without turning mouldy 
or sour, and is wholly free from any bitter or unpleas- 
ant taste. Its dietetical properties are of the utmost 
importance. Common bread is liable, in weak stom- 
achs, to turn sour, and produce heartburn and flatu- 
lency, and to aggravate cases of dyspepsia ; but bread 
made by the new process is free from these baneful 
effects. Its daily use in health prevents these symp- 
toms, and, in many cases, it corrects that morbid con- 
dition of the stomach and intestines on which these 
symptoms depend. It is useful in the treatment of 
various cutaneous eruptions originating in disorder of 
the digestive functions." 

The following is copied from the Cyclopaedia of 
Useful Arts, edited by Charles Tomlinson, London: — 

" Mr. Deane's recipe is as follows : Four pounds of 
flour ; one half ounce of carbonate of soda ; four and 
one third tea-spoonfuls of muriatic acid ; two tea- 
spoonfuls of common salt ; two pints of cold water. 
Mix the soda perfectly with the flour, and the acid 
with the water, then the whole intimately and speedily 
together, using a flat piece of wood or spaddle for the 
purpose. This will make two loaves, and should be 
put into a quick oven immediately. It will require 
4 



3S THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

about one and one half hours to bake. In this kind 
of bread kneading will prove injurious, by making it 
too heavy. The dough must not be too stiff." 

The reason of disagreement among the doctors may 
originate in the character of the different acids used. 
Tartaric acid is an organic or vegetable acid, while 
muriatic acid is a hydrogen acid — an inorganic or min- 
eral acid. These acids are similar in their properties 
and combinations, though not in their constitution. 
All vegetable acids are charred and consumed on being 
heated. By this characteristic, the organic acids are 
distinguished from the inorganic, which are neither 
charred nor consumed by the fire. 

Family Bread. Take a half of a tea-cup of Indian 
meal, with a heaping tea-spoon of salt, and a large 
spoonful of lard or butter. Pour upon these, very 
gradually, a pint and a half of boiling water. Pour 
on a little water, then stir the meal ; add more water, 
stirring again ; continuing to do so three or four times. 
The water must be boiling, for, if the meal be only 
scalded, the bread will have a coarse taste. Keep the 
vessel from which you take the water over the fire, 
while you are making the bread, so that it shall not 
become cool, but every time you use the water it shall 
be boiling hot. Then add another pint of warm water, 
making two quarts of liquid in the whole. When 
this mixture is cool, so that you are sure it will not 
scald your yeast, add a tea-cupful to it. Then stir in 
sifted flour by degrees, to make a stiff dough, remem- 
bering that the dough, after being risen, is always thin- 
ner than when made. Knead it thoroughly. This 
should not be stiff enough to mould, but to be poured 
into the baking pans. This being made up in the 
evening, stand your vessel, if in warm weather, in a 
cool place, if in wintry weather, in a warm one, to rise 
until morning. If you like, bake a thin pan for break- 
fast ; when cooked, do not cut it, but break it, as the 
knife will render the hot bread heavy. 



FAMILY BREAD. 39 

The process of kneading the dough is one of the 
great secrets in making fermented bread, and one which, 
I fear, is little practised. It is not sufficient to work 
over the dough, just mixing in the flour, without using 
any strength. The hands should be closely shut, 
doubled up to give a hard blow, and the fists pressed 
hard and quickly upon the dough ; if need be, dipping 
them occasionally into the flour. So essential to the 
attainment of good bread, and therefore to the well 
being of one's family, do I consider the effectual knead- 
ing, that — to be understood fully — I would liken our 
domestics to the athletae of ancient Rome. Let them 
pommel the dough as they did each other, with all their 
strength and energy of purpose ; in order, however, to 
bring about a little different result — not to extinguish 
life, but to excite and invigorate it. Half an hour is 
the least time to be given to the kneading of a large 
baking of bread. Some persons remove the dough 
from the bread pan upon their bread board, in order to 
knead it better. In this case, the dough must be quite 
stiff. It must be cut across diagonally, then kneaded 
again, and this repeated some ten or a dozen times. If 
your oven takes two hours or less to heat, kindle the 
fire before you arrange the bread into the pans to be 
baked. Loaves of the usual size take about an hour 
to bake. Practice and judgment alone can direct these 
processes. If your dough rises slowly, set the pans 
over hot water. Wet the top of your loaves before you 
put them into the oven, to prevent the crusts forming 
too hard. When the loaves are taken out of the oven, 
do not lay them flat on the table. This will render 
your bread heavy, by preventing the evaporation of the 
steam. Wrap them in cloths, (kept purposely.) and 
stand them on the side, one against the other. 

Some people always put in saleratus to their bread, 
whether the dough is acid or not, to render it more ten- 
der. Bread made by the foregoing rule is not improved, 
but on the contrary, injured by it. But when bread is, 



40 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

as sometimes is the case, seen on tables, of a bright 
green color, and of a delicious, soapy flavor, one is 
tempted to wish there was no such remedy for laziness 
or carelessness. Every one can have good bread, with 
proper materials and ordinary care. Stale bread, cut in 
slices, dipped into cold water, put into a pan, then set 
into the oven for ten or fifteen minutes, is rendered very 
good — especially for children. Some people can eat 
bread prepared in this manner, who never allow them- 
selves to attempt fresh, hot cakes. 

Bread made with a Sponge. Use the quantities 
mentioned in the above recipe, and when risen in the 
morning, knead in flour sufficient to mould the dough 
well, and knead it thoroughly. After it is kneaded, 
divide it into four or five pieces, and mould according 
to the shape of the pans in which you bake it. Do 
this as soon as the fire is kindled in the oven. This 
bread having had fresh flour added to it, will need to 
rise from one to two hours before being baked. Any 
of the various sponges are very nice baked on a griddle, 
like buckwheat cakes, or in muffin rings. It is a very 
good way, in winter, to make up a quantity of dough 
to keep for daily use. For a large family, three or four 
quarts of flour will not be too much ; for a small one, 
two quarts. Let it rise ; take out what you wish to 
make use of, knead the remainder well, and set it away 
in the cold. Do not allow it to freeze. This dough 
will serve for warm cakes for several days. It will keep 
a week uninjured. Bread made with milk is nicer, 
when first cooked, than that made with water. It dries 
sooner and crumbles more in cutting than that made 
with water. 

Rice Bread. Allow half a pint of ground rice to a 
quart of milk, or milk and water ; put the milk and 
water over the fire to boil, keeping out enough to wet 
the rice. Add a large tea-spoon of salt, and when the 
milk and water boil, stir in your rice, which has been 
stirred up with the cold milk and water. Boil it up 



DYSPEPSIA BREAD BROWN BREAD. 41 

twice or three times, stirring it often, then pour into 
your bread pan ; allow it to stand until of proper tem- 
perature to add a gill of yeast, then stir in flour to 
stiffen it. This bread must be made quite stiff to be 
baked. This, if properly made, will be found to be ex- 
cellent bread. It keeps moister than mere flour bread. 

Thirded Bread. Take equal parts of Indian meal, 
rye meal, and wheat flour. Scald the Indian meal, as 
above ; add the rye, lastly the flour. This dough should 
not be made so stiff as to mould, but as thick as you 
can stir with your hand or a spoon. It must be well 
worked and beaten. Bake in same pans as you use for 
white bread. 

Dyspepsia Bread. To three quarts of unbolted flour 
put one table spoonful of salt, one large cup of sugar, 
one large cup of yeast, one quart of warm water. 

Brown Bread. Two quarts of Indian meal, two 
quarts of rye meal, one large spoonful of salt, half a 
tea-cupful of yeast, half a cup of molasses ; mix these 
with as warm water as the hands will bear ; butter deep 
pans, wet the hands with cold water to put it in ; set it to 
rise one hour. Bake it in a hot oven four or five hours ; 
if baked in a brick oven, it is better to keep it in the 
oven all night. 

Brown Bread. Take one quart of Indian meal and 
two quarts of rye meal ; mix them well together with 
a large spoonful of salt. Wet them with two quarts 
of buttermilk, frothed with a table spoonful of saleratus 
dissolved in warm water ; add a tea-cup of molasses. 
This bread should be as stiff as can conveniently be 
stirred with the hands. Butter deep earthen or iron 
pans very thickly. Put in the dough, smooth the top 
with the hand, wet with cold water. It should be baked 
in ten or fifteen minutes after it has been made. It 
requires a hot oven, and should remain in the oven over 
night. 

Rye Bread is made of equal parts of rye meal and 
wheat flour, mixed with warm water; add salt and 
4* 



42 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

molasses. This dough is very nice baked in small, 
round cake-pans for breakfast. It should not be made 
stiff" enough to mould. This bread may be made with 
cream of tartar and soda, with a little sugar, by using 
the same proportions as with wheat bread ; or with 
buttermilk, frothed with saleratus. 

Flannel Bread. Two quarts of flour ; one pint of 
milk; one cup of butter; six eggs; one spoonful of 
yeast. 

New Milk Bread. Take one quart of new milk, 
warm from the cow; add one pint of boiling water 
and a table-spoonful of salt ; mix in sifted flour enough 
to make a batter as thick as custard. Let this stand 
in a warm place to rise, stirring occasionally. It will 
bubble up very light in about six hours. When risen, 
take a pint of warm milk with half of a tea-spoonful 
of saleratus dissolved in warm water ; mix these with 
the emptyings ; add flour to make it stiff enough to 
mould lightly. Put the loaves into warm pans. Set 
them to rise in a warm place while your oven is heat- 
ing. The pans must not be more than half full when 
put to rise ; when filled by the rising of the dough, to 
be baked in a quick but not very solid heat. This 
makes very delicious bread. There is none made to 
compare with it in delicacy and sweetness, if properly 
compounded. About an hour ought to be sufficient to 
rise the dough after being put into pans. 

Muffin Bread. To one and one half a pint of 
flour, add one half pint of sifted meal, two eggs, and 
one large spoonful of butter. Let it be well mixed, 
adding two spoonfuls of yeast ; wet with either milk 
or water. Stand over night, to rise like loaf bread. 



TOAST. 

It may seem rather fanciful to give recipes for the 
making of toast. But in these days, when dyspepsia 



TOAST. 43 

is so rife among us, toast has become indispensable at 
our breakfast tables ; and care is requisite to make even 
this simple dish palatable. 

Toast. Have ready a nice loaf of bread that has 
been baked a day or two, (for new bread cannot be 
smoothly cut,) then with a sharp knife, (kept purposely, 
with a blade long, like a carving-knife, but having a 
round end,) cut as many slices as you require, very 
even, about a quarter of an inch in thickness. Have 
a clear fire. The bread must be warmed through slowly 
before it begins to brown and crisp. The slice must 
be turned often to warm, before it is allowed to stand 
long enough to assume the yellowish-brown color 
of toast. Muffins or crumpets make very delicious 
toast. 

All kinds of bread need to be toasted carefully in 
the above manner, but if to be served under birds, eggs, 
kidneys, or vegetables, it requires to be toasted dryer 
and harder. This bread can be either simply buttered 
or dipped as milk or cream toast. 

Dipped Toast. Have ready some milk boiled and 
thickened with a very little flour ; add butter according 
as you wish your toast rich or otherwise ; into which 
dip the toasted bread. Serve hot. This should not 
be dipped until sent to table, as by standing it becomes 
sodden. If cream is used instead of milk, no thicken- 
ing is necessary, and a very little butter. 

Dry Toast ought not to be toasted until quite ready 
to serve ; when done as above, place it in a toast rack 
or standing upon its edges, one piece resting against 
another. 

Some people prefer to have their toast buttered 
before being sent to table. If so, be careful that the 
butter is spread equally over the slice ; not put on in 
dabs, making some parts of the slice dry as a husk, 
while other parts are filled with grease. After being 
toasted and buttered, some persons like their bread 
dipped into boiling hot water before serving. This 
softens it much. 



44 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 

Rolls. To three pints of sifted flour, add two 
spoonfuls of salt, with six table-spoonfuls of good 
yeast, and a pint of lukewarm water. Make these 
materials into a batter and set it to rise. Half a pint 
of warm water and little more flour worked in before 
moulding the dough into cakes. 

French Rolls. Two pounds of flour ; two ounces 
of butter ; three gills of milk ; one gill of yeast. Warm 
the butter in the milk and pour it on the flour. Let 
it rise half of a day. To be made into seven rolls. 

French Rolls. Warm a table-spoonful of butter 
in a pint of milk ; add two spoonfuls of yeast and a 
little salt; two pounds of flour. Set this dough to 
rise in a warm place, and bake it in rolls in a quick 
oven. 

Buttermilk Cakes. To a quart of flour add a 
large pint of buttermilk; add a tea-spoonful of salt; 
dissolve a heaping spoonful of saleratus in a very little 
warm water and stir into the milk, which pour upon 
the flour while foaming. Beat it well together, adding 
flour enough to make a smooth dough. Roll it out 
and cut it out with a paste cutter, and bake in a quick 
oven for fifteen or twenty minutes. 

Sour Cream Cakes. To be made in the same way 
as the buttermilk cakes. Cakes made of equal quan- 
tities of rye and flour, with the addition of a little 
sugar or molasses, are a rarity, and can be made with 
either buttermilk or cream, exceeding delicate. 

Cream of Tartar Cakes. Rub into one quart of 
flour two table-spoonfuls of cream, or one spoonful of 
lard or butter ; then stir in two tea-spoonfuls of cream 
of tartar, and a little salt ; dissolve a tea-spoonful of 
soda or saleratus in a pint of either milk or water ; wet 
the flour and mix it very lightly, just stiff enough to 
roll, and cut into cakes. Unbolted flour makes very 
nice cakes accord'ng to this rule. 



HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 45 

Muffins. To one quart of light bread dough, add 
three eggs. If not of proper consistency to bake on 
the griddle, add a little warm water, with sufficient 
(lour. Let it rise well. To be baked in muffin rings. 

Muffins. To one quart of milk, add one gill of 
yeast, one tea-spoon of salt, with four or five eggs. 
Add ilour sufficient to make a thick batter. Baked on 
the griddle in muffin rings. 

Muffins. Sift one quart of flour ; put to it a little 
salt, and a large spoonful of yeast. Beat the white 
of an egg to a strong froth, and add to it. Make the 
flour up with cold water, as soft as you can, to allow it 
to be handled ; set it in a moderately warm place to 
rise. Next morning beat it up well with a spoon ; put 
it into rings on the griddle ; first flour the griddle 
slightly, but put no butter upon it. Turn the muffins 
until cooked. 

Buckwheat Cakes. Two pints of buckwheat flour, 
mixed into a batter with water ; one tea-spoonful of 
carbonate of soda dissolved in water, and two tea- 
spoonfuls of cream of tartar dissolved also. Stir well 
into the batter, first the soda dissolved, then the acid. 

Buckwheat Cakes. Take a quart of warm water, 
a heaping tea-spoon of salt, and a gill of yeast. Stir 
in buckwheat flour enough to make a thin batter. Let 
it rise over night. In the morning, add about a quarter 
of a tea-spoonful of saleratus or soda. It is always 
best to add this whether the dough is sour or not. 
Put it in just as you are ready to bake it. The reason 
for using saleratus is to make the cakes tender. Buck- 
wheat makes a tough dough, which requires something 
to be added to render it delicate. 

I have given before our Yankee recipe for muffins, 
which are, in fact, the true English crumpets. I will 
now add the recipe for the hot muffins of Old England. 

Muffins. Mix a quart of warm water, in which 
you have put a gill of good fresh yeast, with suffi- 
cient flour to form a stiflish batter. Let this remain 



46 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

to rise. Then stir in flour enough to mould lightly 
with your hands. Shape them into round, rather thin 
cakes, which put into a tray containing flour. Let 
them remain to rise. When nicely risen, bake them 
on your griddle. Turn them to brown on both sides. 
They will take about ten minutes to bake. 

Husks. Take three pounds of flour ; wet it with a 
pint of warm water, into which you have put two gills 
of fresh yeast; add a tea-spoonful of salt and two ounces 
of powdered sugar, with a quarter of a pound of but- 
ter, dissolved in a half of a pint of warm water. Mix 
the whole into a dough, and let it remain in a warm 
place until well risen ; then form it into long rolls 
about two inches in thickness. Place them upon a 
baking sheet or pan, and put them for a short time in 
a warm place to prove or rise. Bake them in a mod- 
erate oven. When cold, cut them in slices the thick- 
ness of a quarter of an inch, which lay upon a tin 
sheet or pan, and put them into a warm oven. When 
well browned upon one side, turn them over, and put 
them again in the oven until the other side is browned, 
when they are done and ready for use. An exceed- 
ingly nice pudding can be made of rusks. (See Pud- 
dings, page 142.) 

Rusks. Beat seven eggs well, and mix with half a 
pint of new milk, in which has been melted four 
ounces of butter ; add to it a quarter of a pint of yeast 
and three ounces of sugar, and stir in by degrees as 
much flour as will make a very light batter. Set it to 
rise. When risen, add flour enough to form it into 
rolls, or small loaves. When baked and cold, brown 
them as above. These cakes are nice hot. 

Corn Meal Rusk. Take six cups of Indian meal ; 
four cups of flour ; one cup of molasses ; a tea-spoon 
of salt. Mix the whole together, and knead it into a 
thin dough, with a suitable portion of milk or water. 
Add two small table-spoonfuls of saleratus. Bake 
about three quarters of an hour. This dough, baked 
in muffin rings in the oven, is very nice and light. 



HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 47 

Whigs. Take a pint of milk, and warm it so as to 
melt a piece of butter the size of an egg. Then add 
two table-spoonfuls of yeast, and a tea-spoon of salt ; 
stir in one pound and a half of flour, with two eggs 
well beaten ; beat the whole well together, and set it 
to rise over night, in a warm place. 

Whigs. Half a pound of butter; half a pound of 
sugar ; six eggs ; two pounds of flour; a pint of milk ; 
a gill of yeast; a spoonful of salt. Warm the milk 
sufficiently to melt the butter; then add the yeast, 
with sugar and egg*, well beaten. Bake in rounds in 
the oven, or in muffin rings. Allow this to rise from 
six to ten hours. 

Waffles. Take a quart of milk ; a quarter of a 
pound of butter; a gill of yeast; six or eight eggs; a 
spoonful of salt, with flour sufficient to make a batter, 
as for griddle cakes. The waffle iron must be heated 
on hot coals, then buttered or well greased with lard, 
and one side filled with the batter; then shut it to- 
gether and lay it on the coals or stove to bake. After a 
few minutes, turn the iron on to the other side. These 
cakes require about twice the time to cook as griddle 
cakes. As they are removed from the iron to the 
plate, sift a little sugar, and grate a little nutmeg over 
them, and put a small piece of butter on each. These 
cakes may be made with soda and cream of tartar, 
using the proper proportions of each — one tea-spoon- 
ful of soda with two of cream of tartar for the above 
quantity. 

Drop Cakes. Take three eggs, leaving out one 
white. Beat them in a pint bowl, just enough. Then 
fill the bowl even full of milk, and stir in enough 
flour to make a thick, but not stiff batter. Bake in 
earthen cups, in a quicK oven. This is an excellent 
recipe, and the just enough beating for eggs can only 
be determined by experience. 

Drop Cakes. Take one quart of flour ; five eggs ; 
three fourths of a pint of milk and one fourth of cream, 



48 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

with a large spoonful of sifted sugar ; a tea-spoon of 
salt. Mix these well together. If the cream should be 
sour, add a little saleratus. If all milk is used, melt 
a dessert-spoonful of butter in the milk. To be baked 
in cups, in the oven, thirty to forty minutes. 

Rye Drop Cakes. Take one quart of milk ; five or 
six eggs ; equal quantities of rye and flour, about six 
gills of each. This batter must be made a little stiffer 
than for pancakes ; very little sugar and salt. 

Rye Drop Cakes. Eight eggs ; one quart of new 
milk ; one half gill of Indian meal, scalded with the 
milk; two gills of flour, to be mixed stiff with rye 
meal ; one tea-spoonful of salt. 

Nimble Cake. Rub into one pound of flour, one 
half pound of either butter or lard. If lard is used, add 
a little salt. Mixed with either milk or water ; made 
up just stiff enough to roll. To be baked on wooden 
trenchards before the fire, or on tin sheets in the oven. 

Flannel Cakes. One quart of flour; one pint of 
milk or water ; table-spoonful of butter melted in the 
warm milk or water. Put one tea-spoonful 'of carbon- 
ate of soda into the milk or water. Dissolve two tea- 
spoonfuls of cream of tartar in a small quantity of 
water. Add it to the batter immediately before baking 
it. To be baked in thin cakes, on a griddle. These 
are favorite breakfast cakes in Virginia. 

Flannel Cakes. To two ounces of butter add a 
pint of hot milk, to melt it ; a pint of cold milk ; five 
eggs ; flour sufficient to make a stiff batter ; one tea- 
spoonful of salt; two table-spoonfuls of yeast. Set 
this to rise in a warm place. To be baked on the 
griddle. 

Widow's Cake. Four cups of Indian meal; one 
cup of flour. Add two large spoonfuls of butter to 
the meal, and scald with hot water ; two tea-spoon- 
fuls of saleratus. Wet with milk or water to the proper 
thickness. Two thirds of a small tea-cup of molasses. 

Washington Corn Cake. One pint of Indian 



HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 49 

meal, made into a batter with scalding water, thick as 
hasty pudding, (over night;) a little salt. In the 
morning, add one half pint of milk ; four eggs. Bake 
from thirty to forty minutes. 

Indian Cake. One quart of milk; three tea-cups 
of Indian meal ; two tea-cups of flour ; one of molas- 
ses ; three tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; a little salt. 

Corn Cake. Take one quart of sour milk or butter- 
milk ; one half cup of molasses ; three eggs ; one large 
spoonful of saleratus ; Indian meal sufficient to stiffen 
it to the consistency of pound cake. 

Journey, or Johnny Cake. Rub into one quart of 
dry meal a piece of butter the size of a large egg. 
Then wet with milk or water. Spread with a spoon 
or knife on sheets or board, if baked before the fire. 
This can be well baked on a griddle, by taking a small 
portion of the dough, flatten and shape it with your 
hands into small cakes about half an inch thick. To 
be baked brown on both sides. 

Indian Griddle Cakes. One and a half pint of 
meal, scalded well with boiling water. Then add a 
little milk ; two eggs ; a little salt ; a cupful of flour. 

Buttermilk Griddle Cakes. One quart of butter- 
milk; a spoonful of Indian meal; flour enough to 
make a batter ; add salt ; a tea-spoon of saleratus ; 
and two eggs. 

Rice Griddle Cakes. Boil a cup of rice very soft; 
add, gradually, a pint of milk; stir in a little flour, 
with three or four eggs ; a little salt ; grate one half a 
nutmeg; very little sugar may be added. Bake on 
the griddle in small cakes. 

Rye Griddle Cakes. One quart of milk ; five eggs ; 
a little salt; rye stirred in to make a batter as thick as 
buckwheat. Like buckwheat, this must be well beat- 
en. One third of a tea-spoon of saleratus. 

Rye Griddle Cakes. Five spoonfuls of rye flour; 
three of wheat flour ; two of corn meal ; a large spoon- 
ful of brown sugar ; three eggs ; mix in milk to form 
a thin batter. Butter while hot. 
5 



50 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Squash Cakes. One tea-cup of boiled squash ; two 
cups of milk; flour sufficient to thicken as griddle 
cakes ; little salt ; one egg, or half a tea-spoonful of 
saleratus. 

Indian Batter Cakes. Mix together a pint of In- 
dian meal with a half tea-cup of flour; warm a pint 
of milk ; stir in one half tea-spoon of salt, with one 
large table-spoonful of yeast. Beat one or two eggs 
very light; stir them well into the mixture. Let it 
rise three or four hours. To be baked on griddle, like 
buckwheats. Butter them ; serve hot. Eaten with 
molasses. 

Rice Cakes. Stir a pint of rice, boiled soft, into a 
pint of milk; a tea-spoonful of salt, and three well- 
beaten eggs. Mix in either wheat or rice flour until 
stiff enough to fry. These cakes may be baked by 
adding two more eggs ; flour to roll out and cut into 
cakes. 

Crum Cakes. Keep a bowl or pitcher with sour 
milk in it ; and, from time to time, throw in the crums 
of bread which break off when it is sliced, and also 
the dry pieces left from the table. When you next 
want some griddle cakes, take this mixture and break 
up all the pieces with your hand; add an egg, salt, 
and saleratus, and a few spoonfuls of flour. 

Whortle, or Huckleberry Cake. Take one quart 
of flour ; two cups of sugar ; one pint of milk. Hub a 
table-spoonful of butter with two tea-spoonfuls of 
cream of tartar into the flour. Dissolve a tea-spoonful 
of soda or saleratus in the milk. Add one pint of 
berries. To be made with the hand into small cakes, 
and to be eaten warm. 

There appears to be a great prejudice, throughout 
the Northern states, against the use of corn as an arti- 
cle of human food. This seems founded on the pre- 
sumption that it is a coarse and homely grain, fit only 
for hogs and cattle. At the South, corn is made into 



HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 51 

bread and cakes of various kinds, and otherwise pre- 
pared, to be used in every family, from the richest to 
the lowest. Much of this prejudice is simply absurd ; 
but there is some foundation for it, in the want of skill 
of most persons in preparing and preserving the meal. 
The flour of Indian corn is one of the sweetest and 
most delicate of any, if properly cured. The grain con- 
tains much moisture, and when ground, easily absorbs 
more ; and, consequently, a great deal of that eaten 
here, and sent to Europe, is improperly preserved, and 
frequently damped, heated, soured, or musty. One 
would not wonder if decent hogs refused such food. 

Care must be taken in preparing it for the table. Dr. 
Warren (according to Dr. C. T. Jackson) has expressed 
an opinion that much disease results from persons eat- 
ing imperfectly cooked Indian corn. 

" Parched corn is eminently nutritious. It is a fool- 
ish idea that it swells in the stomach. It has already 
swelled to twenty times its original size before it is 
eaten." 

Corn Bread. Take about two tea-cups of hominy, 
and while hot, mix with it a very large spoonful of but- 
ter, or good lard, with some salt. Beat four eggs very 
light, and stir them into the hominy ; add a pint of 
milk gradually, and half a pint of corn meal. This 
batter should be of the consistency of rich custard ; if 
thicker, add more milk. Bake it with a good deal of 
heat at the bottom of the oven, and not too much at 
top, so as to allow it to rise. The pan must be a 
deep one to allow space for rising. This has the ap- 
pearance, when cooked, of a baked batter pudding, and 
when rich and well mixed it has almost the delicacy of 
a baked custard. 

Corn Bread. One pint of corn meal ; one quart of 
milk ; two eggs ; a little salt. Beat the eggs well, and 
add the milk gradually. Pour this on to the meal 
slowly, stirring all the time. Bake in a pan about an 
inch thick. 



52 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Corn Bread. Half a pint of milk ; three eggs ; one 
spoonful of lard ; one pint of corn meal. Mix well to- 
gether, and bake in tin cake rounds. 

Virginia Bread. One quart of meal ; half pint of 
wheat flour ; a pint and a half of milk ; two eggs ; a 
table-spoonful of butter or lard. Mix these well togeth- 
er, and bake either in cups or pans. 

Corn Muffins. To three pints of corn meal add a 
pint of lukewarm water ; a tea-cupful of good yeast ; a 
table spoonful of sugar ; a tea-spoonful of salt. Bake 
in rings on the griddle, after being well risen. 

Royal Corn Cakes. One pint of fine corn meal; 
four table spoonfuls of wheat flour ; one quart of milk ; 
three eggs; salt to your taste. Mix the meal and 
flour with the milk, beat the eggs very light, and add 
them. Bake on a griddle, and serve hot, with fresh 
butter. 

Corn Waffles. To two table spoonfuls of cold 
hominy add one table spoonful of rice flour, and one 
of wheat flour ; a little salt. Thin it with milk to a 
proper consistency. To be baked in a waffle iron. 

Hominy Fritters. Beat up three eggs with a large 
spoonful of butter, add to these three spoonfuls of cold 
hominy ; a pint of milk ; a pint of wheat flour. Mix 
all well together, and let them rise three hours. 

Rice and Indian Cup Cakes. One tea-cup of soft 
boiled rice ; add a quart of Indian meal ; a quart of 
milk ; two eggs ; a little salt ; a half table-spoonful of 
molasses. Bake in cups or pans. 

Sweet Potato Waffles. Two table-spoonfuls of 
mashed potato ; one of butter ; one of sugar ; one pint 
of milk ; four table-spoonfuls of wheat flour. Mix these 
together, and bake in a waffle iron. 

Raised Waffles. Make a thick batter of milk and 
flour ; add four eggs ; a gill of yeast ; a spoonful of but- 
ter. Let it rise some hours. When taken out of the 
iron, butter and sprinkle sugar over them. 

Rice Flannel Cakes. Half a pint of soft boiled 



CAKES. 53 

rice ; a tea-cup of cream or milk ; with a little butter ; a 
tea-cup of sugar ; three eggs ; a table-spoonful of yeast, 
or a tea-spoonful of saleratus. Let the rice cool, and 
add the other ingredients. Bake on a griddle. 

Oyster Corn Cakes. Take one quart of sweet 
corn, rasped from the cob with a coarse grater ; two tea- 
cups of milk ; one tea-cup of flour ; and two eggs well 
beaten. Season the batter with salt and pepper. Bake 
on a griddle. 

Velvet Cakes. Make a batter of one quart of milk, 
and one quart of flour, one gill of yeast, three eggs, a 
small piece of butter. To be baked in muffin rings. 



CAKES. 

It is an excellent plan for the mistress of a household 
to keep always a tire, high in the neck, with short sleeves, 
for herself or her domestic to put on, when either bread 
or cake is to be made. Always require your cook to do 
this, more especially if she has other duties to perform 
out of the kitchen. Have it well understood that it must 
be kept for this purpose, and this alone. To be taken 
off when this duty is accomplished. 

Have every thing which you require in your prepara- 
tion at hand, before commencing. Be equally careful 
not to make trouble for your domestic or yourself, by 
scattering materials, by soiling tables or the floor, or by 
the needless multiplication of utensils. 

Have your pans buttered, your flour and sugar sifted 
and weighed ; your butter washed and weighed ; your 
eggs counted, ready to be broken ; the spices and fruits 
all ready. Use wood or earthen in preference to tin 
vessels to make your cake in. 

Put your eggs into cold water some time before 
breaking them. They will beat to a finer froth, and 
in shorter time when cold. In summer, put them into 
5* 



54 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

water with a little ice. It is better to beat them in a 
cold place rather than a hot room. 

All cakes are decidedly lighter if the whites and yolks 
are beaten separately. It is well always to require this 
to be done. Beat the yolks well, adding gradually the 
sugar, where there is no butter to be used. But if but- 
ter is needed, work your butter to a cream, adding from 
time to time the sugar, until the quantity is used ; then, 
the yolks, well beaten ; and lastly, the whites, beaten to 
stiff froth. Every one will, I think, be sufficiently re- 
paid for the time and trouble in so doing, by the finer 
quality of their cake. 

In mixing your cake, do not use the hands, if pos- 
sible to avoid it, particularly in warm weather. The 
warmth of the hand will be apt to make your cake 
heavy. A wooden spatula or spoon should be kept for 
this purpose alone. 

All cakes, not made with yeast, should be baked as 
soon as possible after they are mixed, as the ingredients 
are very liable to separate. 

Sugar should be rolled with the rolling-pin to a pow- 
der, on a clean bread board, and sifted through a fine 
hair sieve. Crushed white, or loaf sugar, must be used 
for sponge and pound cakes, and all other rich white 
cakes. Brown sugar, coarse grained, but clean, will 
answer for plum cakes, and some of the cup and loaf 
cakes. Still these last are nicer made of crushed sugar. 
It can be purchased, ready powdered, at the stores. 

Firkin butter should be cut in small pieces, well 
washed and drained before using it, or the cake will be 
heavy. 

Lemon peel should be pared very thin, and with a 
little sugar, beaten in a mortar (marble if you have it) 
to a paste ; then mixed with either wine, cream, or 
little milk, so as to divide easily among the other in- 
gredients. The better way to give the lemon flavor to 
cake or custard, is to rub a piece of sugar some time 
over the rind of a fresh lemon ; the hard sugar tears 



OAKES. 



55 



the cells in which the oil of the lemons is enclosed, and 
the oil is attracted into the pores of the sugar. As the 
sugar is discolored, scrape it off with a knife, and it is 
well, perhaps, to dry this sugar before using it in deli- 
cate cakes. This can be kept in jars or bottles. Any 
oil or essence, to be added to cake, should be dropped 
upon a lump of sugar, and then put into the dough to 
dissolve. 

Black or white plum cakes require less butter and 
eggs, for having yeast in them, and eat equally light 
and rich. If the dough be only of flour, milk, water, 
and yeast, it becomes more tough and is less easily 
divided than if the butter be first mixed with these 
ingredients and the dough afterwards set to rise. 

Fresh eggs are required for nice white cakes. Sponge 
cake, savoy biscuit, pound cake, and ladies'-finger cakes, 
should never be attempted without fresh eggs. 

Eggs kept in lime, or in any other preparation, will 
answer for simpler mixtures. 

Fruit is the last article to be added to cake, and 
immediately before putting it into the oven. Cask 
raisins should be washed before they are stoned, as also 
box raisins, unless very fresh. To stone them, cut 
them once or twice, and remove the stones. Some 
persons chop them very fine. 

It is well to prepare currants before they are needed. 
Wash them well in warm water, rubbing them be- 
tween the hands ; and then drain off the water. Con- 
tinue to do this until the water is clear, drain them in 
the colander, spread them on a cloth on the table, and 
rub them dry with the cloth. Finish drying them in 
a very gentle heat. If they are added to cakes or 
puddings damp, they will make it heavy. 

Buttered paper should be put in the bottom and 
sides of pans, when the cake requires a long baking ; 
and paper not buttered is good for other cake to pre- 
vent burning. If the oven is too hot, place a sheet 
of paper on the top of the cake, to prevent the top 
from burning. 



56 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

The heat of the oven is of great importance in 
baking cakes, especially those that are large. If not 
pretty quick, the batter will not rise. If not long 
enough lighted to have a body of heat, or if the heat 
has become slack, the cake will be heavy. To know 
when it is well soaked, take a broad-bladed knife that 
is very bright, or a clean straw, and plunge it into the 
centre, draw it out instantly, and if there should be the 
least stickiness, the cake is not cooked, and should be 
immediately returned to the oven. Saleratus or soda 
should be always kept, rolled and sifted, and when used 
for hot cakes, should be dissolved in a very little warm, 
not hot, water. Some people keep saleratus dissolved 
ready for use. Put as much saleratus into a bottle as 
will dissolve, when filled with water, using two table- 
spoonfuls of the liquid instead of a tea-spoonful of 
powder. This answers better for hot cakes than for 
cup or loaf cakes. "When eggs are broken, be exceed- 
ingly careful that none of the yolk becomes mingled 
with the white. A very little of the yolk will some- 
times prevent the white from foaming well. Take a 
cup, break the shell on it ; allow the white to fall out 
into it, and put the yolk into a bowl ; transfer the white 
from the cup into a shallow meat-dish. Beat them 
with an egg-beater, or a long-bladed knife. Hold the 
knife almost parallel with the dish ; give a quick, sharp 
stroke through the whole length. Beat them in a cool 
place till you can cut the froth, or till it slides from 
your knife in one mass. It is better not to stop beat- 
ing, when once begun, until you have finished; as it will 
become liquid and cannot be restored, and your cake 
will be heavy. These directions are given, to be ap- 
plied to each of the following recipes ; and are now 
given to avoid the useless repetition in each recipe. 
Almonds can be obtained ground in Europe. I know 
not that they are so prepared here. To blanch them, 
pour boiling' water over them, let them stand from ten 
to fifteen minutes, drain them, and rub their skins off 



CAKES. 57 

with a cloth ; lay them in a warm place to dry. If 
to be pounded, add orange water or rose water to pre- 
vent them from oiling. Keep this paste in a cool place. 
Stir the almonds into the sugar and butter, or the cake 
will be streaked. This should be prepared the day be- 
fore wanted. 

Griddle cakes may be made with new-fallen snow, 
very light, in proportion of a tea-cup of snow to a pint 
of milk. 

Fresh-fallen snow contains a large proportion of am- 
monia, which renders the cakes light ; but which also 
soon evaporates, rendering the old snow useless for this 
purpose. 

Weights and Measures. As all families are not prepared with 
scales and weights, the following list will be found useful : — 

Wheat Flour, one pound is one quart. 

Indian Meal, one pound two ounces is one quart ; sixteen large table- 
spoonfuls are one half pint. 

Butter, when soft, one pound one ounce is one quart ; eight table- 
spoonfuls aie one gill. 

Loaf Sugar, when broken, one pound is one quart ; four large 
table-spoonfuls are one half gill. 

IVhile Sugar, powdered, one pound one ounce is one quart ; a com- 
mon-sized tumbler holds one half pint. 

Best broicn Sugar, one pound two ounces is one quart ; a common- 
sized wine glass holds one half gill. 

Eggs, average size, ten eggs are one pound. 

Rich Plum Cake. Seven pounds of flour; seven 
pounds of eggs ; six pounds of butter ; six pounds of 
sugar ; six pounds of raisins ; six pounds of currants ; 
three pounds of citron ; half a pint of brandy ; half a 
pint of wine ; half a pint of rose water ; one ounce of 
nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon each. 

Smaller Quantity. Five pounds of flour; five 
pounds of eggs ; four pounds of sugar ; four pounds of 
butter ; five pounds of raisins ; five pounds of currants ; 
wine, etc., in proportion as above. 

Plum Cake. Eight pounds of flour; eight pounds 
of sugar ; eight pounds of eggs ; eight pounds of but- 
ter ; twenty-four pounds of fruit ; one half a pint of 



58 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

wine, and the same quantity of brandy. This cake 
will keep exceedingly well. 

Plum Cake. Three pounds of flour; two pounds 
of sugar ; three pounds of currants ; two pounds of 
butter ; twenty eggs ; one gill of rose water ; one gill 
of wine and brandy ; half an ounce of spice. 

Plum Cake. One pound of flour; one pound of 
sugar ; one pound of butter ; nine eggs ; four pounds of 
currants ; three pounds of raisins, stoned and chopped ; 
one half pint of wine ; one gill of brandy ; mace, cin- 
namon, nutmeg, to your taste. 

Plum Cake. Fourteen pounds of flour ; six pounds 
of sugar ; six pounds of butter ; ten pounds of cur- 
rants ; forty eggs ; one quart of wine ; two quarts of 
rose water ; one quart of yeast ; two ounces of cinna- 
mon, cloves, and nutmeg, each ; one ounce mace ; two 
pounds of citron ; melt the wine and butter together. 

Plum Cake. Six pounds of flour ; six pounds of 
currants ; four pounds of butter and sugar each ; fifty 
eggs ; four tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; three glasses of 
wine ; three glasses of brandy ; three glasses of rose- 
water ; one half ounce of mace ; three nutmegs ; cin- 
namon and cloves to your taste. 

Plum Cake without Eggs. Two pounds of flour ; 
three fourths of a pound of butter ; three fourths of a 
pint of milk ; one cup of brandy ; one tea-spoonful of 
saleratus ; spice and raisins to your taste. 

Composition Plum Cake. Four pounds of flour ; 
three pounds of sugar ; one and one half of a pound of 
butter ; eleven eggs ; one pint of milk ; two tea-spoon- 
fuls of saleratus ; two nutmegs ; mace and cloves to 
your taste ; two pounds of raisins, stoned and chopped ; 
one pound of currants ; a little wine and brandy. This 
will make three good loaves. 

Fruit Cake. Sugar, butter, and flour, one pound 
each ; ten eggs ; currants, two pounds ; raisins, two 
pounds, stoned and chopped fine ; one half of a pound 
of citron ; half of a tumbler of brandy, in which the 



CAKES. 59 

currants and raisins must be rinsed to prevent their 
settling at the bottom of the cake. Work the butter 
until it is like cream ; then add the sugar, and rub 
them well together. Put the flour in a little at a time. 
Beat the yolks of the eggs separate from the whites ; 
add these all together. Then put in the brandy, cur- 
rants, raisins, and citron ; one ounce of mace ; a few 
drops of essence of cinnamon or lemon. 

Pound Cake. Take one pound of white sugar, and 
three quarters of a pound of butter, worked to a cream ; 
twelve eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately ; 
add the yolks, well beaten, to the butter and sugar ; 
add a glass of white wine ; half a tea-spoonful of 
mace ; half a nutmeg, or any spice that is preferred. 
Beat it well together; add the whites, and beat again 
until it is well mixed ; add a pound of flour, beat it 
in well, and strew in, if you choose, a cupful of dried 
currants. Bake it in tin square pans half an hour. 

Sponge Cake. Eighteen eggs ; one and one half 
pound of sugar ; from three quarters to one pound of 
flour, depending on the thickening quality of the flour. 
Flavor as you please. Add the juice of a lemon, 
frothed with a lump of saleratus as big as a pea, dis- 
solved in the smallest quantity of water possible. Let 
it be well beaten into the cake with a spoon, just be- 
fore baking. After it is baked and cold, cut it merely 
through the top crust, with a sharp knife ; then place 
it on the edge of the table and break it. Cake made 
by this recipe is far nicer than any other. 

Sponge Cake. One pound of flour; one and one 
half pound of Havana sugar, sifted ; twelve eggs ; one 
wine glass of rose water; the rind of one lemon or 
eighteen drops of essence of lemon. Beat the yolks, 
adding, gradually, the sugar, rose water, and lemon. 
Beat the whites to a solid froth, and pour it upon the 
yolks and sugar ; beat them well together ; whisk in 
the flour ; put it into your pans ; sift sugar over the 
top just as as you put them into the oven, and bake 
in a quick oven. 



60 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Sponge Cake. One half a pound of flour; one 
pound of sugar ; nine eggs ; spice and lemon. 

Gold Cake. One pound of sugar ; one pound of 
flour ; three quarters of a pound of butter ; yolks of 
fourteen eggs ; juice and peel of two lemons. Beat 
the butter to a cream, adding the sugar, and then add 
the yolks, well beaten ; then the flour and lemon. Dis- 
solve a tea-spoonful of soda, which add to the lemon 
juice, and stir in just as you place your cake in the 
oven. 

Silver Cake. To the whites left from above, add 
one pound of sugar; three quarters of a pound of 
flour; six ounces of butter. Beat these whites to a 
stiff froth ; then add the flour, mace, and citron. Al- 
monds, in the place of citron, improves the cake. 
These two cakes should be mingled in the basket. 
One being yellow, the other white, makes a very pret- 
ty contrast. 

Cream Cakes, (Crust.) One pint of water; one 
half of a pound of butter ; three quarters of a pound 
of flour ; ten eggs. Boil the water and butter togeth- 
er ; while boiling, add the flour dry. "When cool, add 
the eggs, well beaten, and one tea-spoonful of dry sal- 
eratus. 

Custard. One quart of milk; one cup of flour; 
two cups of sugar ; four eggs. Boil the milk and 
eggs together; when boiling, add sugar and flour, 
which has been wet with a little cold milk, reserved 
from the quart ; add a little salt Season with lem- 
on, vanilla, or rose water. In the summer season, 
fresh peach leaves, boiled in the milk, give a pleasant 
flavor. Drop the crust with a spoon on your tins to 
bake. The oven should be of a quick heat. This 
quantity will make thirty-six cakes. After they are 
baked and cold, open the crust just enough to put in 
the custard. 

Almond Cake. Two pounds of sugar ; whites of 
twenty eggs ; one pound of almonds, when prepared 



CAKES. 61 

for cake ; one pound of flour ; one half pound of 
butter. 

Almond Puffs. Blanch two ounces of almonds ; beat 
them fine in a mortar, with rose water ; add the whites 
of three eggs, and sugar sufficient to make a stiff paste ; 
strew some sugar on a sheet of paper ; lay your cake on 
in small drops. Bake them in a very moderate oven. 

Macaroon Cakes. Blanch one pound of almonds ; 
beat them with rose water ; one pound of sugar ; whites 
of eight eggs. Drop them on paper ; sift sugar on them. 
Bake in a slack oven. 

Almond Cakes. Procure, if possible, one pound of 
ground almonds, to which add two pounds of sugar, 
mixing the whole with the whites of nine eggs. Lay 
these cakes on a sheet of paper, in an oval shape, with 
a table-spoon. Put three or four small strips of almond 
upon the top of each. Bake them in a slow oven. 

Pound Cake. Take one pound of butter, cream it 
well, add gradually one pound of sugar and a little 
grated nutmeg ; beat these well together. Add by 
degrees the yolks of eight eggs, then the whites. Add 
a pound and a quarter of sifted flour, stir it in lightly, 
and put this mixture in hoops or rounds to bake. 

Queen's Cakes. One pound of sugar ; one pound of 
fresh butter ; fourteen ounces of flour : ten eggs ; one 
wine glass of wine or brandy, and rose water ; one tea- 
spoon of mace. 

Queen's Cakes. The weight of six eggs, in butter, 
and of nine eggs, in powdered sugar. Cream these 
well together. Add, by degrees, nine eggs, and when 
well beaten stir in the weight of nine eggs of flour and 
half a pound of currants. 

Cocoa-nut Cakes. Scrape or grate the cocoa-nut, 
to which add its weight of powdered sugar ; add the 
white of one egg to a nut. Beat it with a wooden 
spoon until forming a softish, but thick paste. Lay 
the mixture upon paper in small drops, baking them in 
a moderate oven. 
6 



62 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Macaroons. Blanch and skin a pound of sweet al- 
monds ; dry them well, put them into a mortar with a 
pound and a half of sugar ; pound them well together, 
and pass them through a wire sieve ; mix these gradually 
with the whites of eight eggs, making a softish paste. 
Lay them out on paper in pieces the size of a walnut ; 
sift sugar over them, and bake them of a yellowish-brown 
color. They are done when set quite firm through. 

Ratafies are made similar to the above, by de- 
ducting two ounces of sweet and adding two ounces 
of bitter almonds. They must be baked in a warmer 
oven than macaroons. These cakes are serviceable in 
making a great many second course dishes. 

Savoy Biscuit. Grate the peel of one lemon, to 
the yolks of twenty eggs ; add one and a half pound of 
sugar. Add whites of ten eggs, with fourteen ounces 
of flour. 

Washington Cake or Pie. To one pound of flour 
add one pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of 
butter, eight eggs, two nutmegs. To be baked in large, 
round, shallow tins. When baked and cool, put some 
preserve between two cakes. 

Rice Sponge Cake. One pound of sugar ; three 
quarters of a pound of ground rice ; thirteen eggs, with 
four whites left out ; spoonful of salt ; peel and juice of 
one lemon. 

Rice Sponge Cake. Weigh nine eggs; take their 
weight in sugar ; the weight of six in ground rice ; add 
lemon and a little salt. This requires a longer time to 
bake than cake made with wheat flour. 

Frosting for Cakes. Pound and sift six pounds 
of sugar; beat the whites of eighteen eggs to a solid 
froth ; add to the sugar twenty-five drops of essence 
of lemon. Let the cake be warm when you put this 
on. The longer it is beaten the whiter it will be. 

Frosting. Two pounds of sugar ; the whites of eight 
eggs ; half an ounce of starch ; half an ounce of gum 
arabic. Beat it well until white. 



CAKES. C3 

Frosting. To ten whites of eggs add two pounds 
of sugar ; flavor it with lemon or rose water. Put it 
on when the cake is warm, and after the loaves are 
frosted, put them in a moderate oven for fifteen or 
twenty minutes. 

Lady's Finger, or Savoy Cakes. Take the weight 
of nine eggs of sugar, and the same weight of flour ; 
beat them as directed for sponge cake. Lay this mix- 
ture out on paper into cakes three inches in length and 
the thickness of your little finger ; sift sugar over them, 
shaking off all that does not adhere. Bake them of a 
yellowish-brown color ; when done and cold, detach 
them from the paper by wetting it on the back ; place 
them a short time to dry, and they are ready for use 
for charlotte russe, or wherever needed. 

Cup Cake. Five tea-cups of flour; three cups of 
sugar ; one and one half cup of butter ; three eggs ; one 
tea-cup of cream ; one tea-spoonful of saleratus ; two 
nutmegs. 

Cup Cake. Two pounds of flour ; one pound of 
sugar; one pint of milk; one quarter of a pound of but- 
ter ; one tea-spoonful of saleratus. Spice to your taste. 

Common Cup Cake. Four cups of milk ; four cups 
of sugar; four tea-spoonfuls of saleratus; nine cups of 
flour ; one cup of butter. Spice to your taste. 

Cup Cake. Four cups of flour; two cups of sugar; 
one cup of butter; one cup of milk ; two eggs; one tea- 
spoonful of saleratus. 

Cup Cake. Five coffee-cups of flour ; three of sugar; 
two cups of butter ; six eggs ; one coffee-cup of milk ; 
tea-spoonful of saleratus; one glass of wine or brandy. 
Bake in three pans. If you choose, add two pounds 
of raisins, stoned and chopped. Spice as you please. 
Bake in one deep pan. 

Cup Cake. Four cups of flour; four eggs; two and 
one half cups of sugar; one cup of butter; one cup of 
milk; one nutmeg. 

Tea Cakes. One dozen of eggs ; one pound of but- 



64 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

ter ; one pound of sugar ; one pound and a half of flour ; 
one half ounce of nutmeg and mace each ; two pounds 
of currants ; one half wine glass of brandy. 

Esther's Loaf Cake. Take two pounds of bread 
dough after it has risen well ; add one pound of sugar ; 
one pound of raisins ; three fourths of a pound of 
butter ; three eggs ; one glass of brandy. Spice to your 
taste. 

Tea Cakes. Three cups of sugar ; three eggs ; one 
cup of butter ; one cup of milk ; small lump of sale- 
ratus. Mix these not quite as stiff as pound cake. 

Granny Strong's Loaf Cake. Four pounds of 
flour; two pounds of butter; two pounds of sugar; 
twenty-seven eggs ; three pounds of currants ; one pint 
of wine ; one gill of brandy. Spice as you please. 

Loaf Cake, very nice. Six pounds of flour ; two 
pounds of sugar; one and one half of a pound of but- 
ter ; one quart of milk ; thirteen eggs ; one pint of 
yeast ; three nutmegs ; one tea-spoonful of mace. 
Melt the butter in the milk; when lukewarm, add yeast 
and eggs. Let it rise in a warm place from twelve to 
fourteen hours, or until perfectly light. 

Ellen's Cake. Six cups of sugar; nine cups of 
flour ; twelve eggs ; one cup of milk ; rather more 
than three fourths of a pound of butter; one wine 
glass of brandy. Spice as you please. 

Loaf Cake. Three pounds of flour ; one and one 
half of a pound of sugar ; three fourths of a pound of 
butter; five gills of cider; two tea-spoonfuls of sale- 
ratus ; three eggs ; one nutmeg ; cloves and rose water. 
Dissolve the saleratus in a little cider ; put this into the 
cake whilst fermenting. To bake, it requires a hot 
oven. 

Loaf Cake. Two pounds of flour ; three fourths of 
a pound of sugar ; six ounces of butter ; four eggs ; 
one quart of milk ; one gill of yeast. Spice to your 
taste. 

Loaf Cake. Four pounds of flour; two pounds 



CAKES. 65 

of sugar ; one pound of butter ; one quart cider ; two 
gills yeast ; four tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; allspice 
and cinnamon to taste. 

Loaf Cake. Four pounds of flour; two pounds 
of sugar ; one pound of butter ; one quart of milk ; 
four gills of yeast; three eggs; two gills of cider. 
Spice to your taste. 

Common Loaf Cake. Two pounds of flour; one 
pound of sugar ; two ounces of butter ; two tea-spoon- 
fuls of saleratus, dissolved in a little milk or warm 
water. Mix this cake with a little cold water. Spice 
to your taste. Put it immediately to bake. 

Common Loaf Cake. Two and a half pounds of 
flour; one and one half pound of sugar; one half 
pound of butter ; two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus. Dis- 
solve the sugar in as much cold water as will mix the 
cake. Spice as you please. 

Loaf Cake. Two pounds of flour; one and three 
fourths pound of sugar; four eggs ; two nutmegs ; one 
pint of cider ; two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; raisins 
if you please. 

Loaf Cake. Five pounds of flour ; two and a half 
pounds of sugar; one pound of butter; nine eggs; 
one quart of milk ; two gills of yeast. Spice and rose 
water to your taste. 

Roxbury Loaf Cake. One and three fourths of a 
pound of flour; three fourths of a pound of butter; 
one and one half pound of sugar ; one pint of milk ; 
five eggs ; one tea-spoonful of soda ; one and one half 
pound of fruit. 

The Elizabeth Loaf Cake. Three pounds of flour ; 
one pound and one quarter of butter ; one pound and 
one quarter of sugar ; five eggs ; one pint of milk ; 
one gill of yeast; one pound and one half of currants. 
Spice to your taste. Put it to rise in a warm place. 

Election Cake. Seven pounds of flour; seven 
eggs ; seven gills of milk ; seven gills of yeast ; one 
pound and one quarter of butter ; two pounds and one 
6* 



66 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

half of sugar ; allspice to your taste. Scald the milk 
and let it cool. Rub the butter and sugar together, 
and turn the milk upon them. 

Russell Cake. Five cups of flour ; three cups of 
sugar ; two cups of butter ; five eggs, yolks and whites 
beaten separately; a half tea-spoonful of soda; one 
cup of milk. 

Mother Eden's Election Cake. Five pounds of 
flour ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; one pound 
of butter ; five eggs ; one gill of yeast ; sugar to be 
dissolved in six gills of warm water. Spice to your 
taste. 

Election Cake. One heaping cup of sugar ; one 
half cup of butter, melted in one cup of milk ; one 
cup of yeast ; spice. Rise this over night. 

Cider Cake. Three pounds of flour ; two pounds 
of sugar ; one pound of butter ; five gills of cider ; six 
eggs ; two nutmegs ; a spoonful of cloves ; wine glass 
of rose water ; raisins and citron if you please. 

Cider Cake. Three cups of flour; two cups of 
sugar; one cup of butter; four eggs; one cup of cider; 
tea-spoonful of saleratus. 

1, 2, 3, 4 Cake. One cup of butter; two cups of 
sugar ; three cups of flour ; four eggs ; cup of milk ; 
scant tea-spoon of saleratus ; one nutmeg ; a little cin- 
namon. Work the butter and sugar together; beat 
the eggs separately to a froth, and work the dough as 
well as pound cake. Add the soda and put the cake 
immediately to bake. 

A very good Common Cake. Five cups of flour ; 
three cups of milk ; two cups of sugar ; one cup of 
butter ; one tea-spoonful of soda. 

Harrison Cake. Five cups of flour ; two cups of 
molasses ; one and one half cup of butter ; four eggs ; 
one cup of milk ; spice ; two pounds of raisins ; one 
tea-spoon of saleratus. 

Clay Cake. One half pound of butter ; one pound 
of sugar; six eggs; one pound of flour ; one half pint 



CAKES. 67 

of cream ; one half nutmeg ; juice and oil of one 
lemon ; one glass of wine. 

Taylor Cake. Seven cups of flour ; seven eggs ; 
one pint of cider; one and one half pounds of butter; 
two pounds of sugar ; one tea-spoon of saleratus ; 
one and one half pounds raisins ; three nutmegs ; one 
table-spoonful of cinnamon ; one glass of brandy. 

Soda Cake. Dissolve one half pound of sugar in 
one pint of milk ; add large tea-spoonful of soda ; 
mix in two pounds of flour, and one quarter pound of 
butter ; bake quickly in shallow tins. 

Shrewsbury Cake. One and one half pounds of 
flour ; one pound of sugar ; one pound of butter ; 
sixteen eggs ; spice as you please. 

Another. One pound of flour ; one half pound 
of butter ; one half pound sugar ; one egg ; one spoon- 
ful rose water. 

Sally Lunns. Two eggs ; two small cups of 
cream, or milk; two cups of loaf sugar; one pint of 
flour; half a pound of butter; one tea-spoonful of 
mace. The cream and butter to be warmed together, 
and when melted, poured upon the sugar. Beat the 
eggs and stir them in. Stir into the flour a tea-spoon- 
ful of cream of tartar, and then add it to the eggs and 
sugar. Dissolve a full half tea-spoon of soda in a little 
warm water, and mix in well. Bake immediately. 

Indian Pound Cake. Half a pound of butter; 
the weight of eight eggs in sugar, and the weight of 
six in corn meal, sifted ; eight eggs and a nutmeg, or a 
tea-spoonful of cinnamon ; rub the butter and sugar 
to a cream. 

A nice Ginger Cake. Three pounds of flour ; one 
pound of butter ; one pound of sugar ; one pint of mo- 
lasses ; four table-spoonfuls ginger ; two table-spoonfuls 
cream. Cream the butter well with the sugar, adding 
the molasses, lastly the cream ; one table-spoonful of 
saleratus. Work this well together. 

Corsican Gingerbread. Two pounds of flour: one 



68 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

and one half pounds of sugar ; one pound of butter ; 
nine eggs ; one glass of wine ; one cup of ginger. Spread 
very thin with a knife on tin sheets. Keep the dough 
two inches from edge of sheet. Sift sugar over it be- 
fore you put it into the oven. 

Soft Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour; three 
pounds of sugar; two pounds of butter; twenty-four 
eggs ; two gills of rose water. Spice to your taste. 

Light Gingerbread. Two and one half quarts of 
flour; one and one half pint sugar; three fourths pint 
butter ; six eggs ; spice, wine, and ginger. 

Symballs. One half pound of sugar ; one quarter 
pound butter ; two eggs ; one half a nutmeg ; one tea- 
spoonful saleratus ; one half cup of milk ; flour suffi- 
cient to stiffen. Roll out on powdered sugar. 

Cookies. Dissolve one pound of sugar in one half 
pint of water ; one half pound of melted butter ; two 
and a half pounds of flour ; one tea-spoon and half 
of saleratus ; ginger, caraway seeds, or spice. 

Gingerbread. Three pounds of flour; two pounds 
of sugar ; one and one half pounds of butter ; fifteen 
eggs ; ginger to your taste. Rolled out on tin sheets. 

Hard Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour ; three 
pounds of sugar ; two pounds of butter ; nine eggs ; 
one quarter pound of ginger. 

Hard Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour; two 
pounds of sugar ; one pound of butter ; coffee-cup of 
milk ; tea-spoon of saleratus ; four eggs ; small cup of 
ginger ; caraway seed if you please. 

Hard Gingerbread. Two pounds of flour ; one 
pound of sugar ; three quarters pound of butter ; seven 
eggs; ginger. 

Gingerbread. Two and one half pounds of flour; 
one pound of sugar ; three quarters of a pound of but- 
ter ; one half pint of yeast ; one half pint of milk ; one 
gill of wine ; four eggs ; one pound of currants , spice, 
ginger, and citron. 

Particular Gingerbread. Six pounds of flour; 



CAKES. 



69 



three pounds of sugar; two pounds of butter; twenty 
eggs ; one tea-spoonful saleratus ; one quarter pound 
of ginger. 

Common Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour ; one 
pound of butter ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; 
five eggs ; two tumblerfuls of cider ; two tea-spoonfuls 
of saleratus ; ginger as you please. 

Caraway Seed Cake. Three and one half pounds 
of flour ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; one pound 
of butter ; half pint of rose water ; a small piece of sal- 
eratus, which dissolve in the rose water; one ounce of 
caraway seed, or two, as you like. Mix up the ingre- 
dients. Roll it very thin ; cut into squares, and stamp 
them ; put them on tin sheets. They take but a short 
time to bake. 

Another. Half a gill of rose water ; a gill and one 
half of milk ; two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar ; 
one tea-spoonful of soda. Rest as above. 

Gringle Cake. Two cups of sugar ; one cup of 
butter ; two eggs ; one table-spoonful of wine or bran- 
dy ; milk, and rose water ; one tea-spoonful of saleratus. 
Then add enough flour to make it stiff enough to roll. 
Stamping is an improvement. 

Jumbles. Three pounds of flour; two pounds of 
sugar ; one pound of butter ; eight eggs, with a little 
caraway seed. Add a little milk, if the eggs are not 
sufficient to moisten the flour. 

Jumbles. One and one quarter pounds of flour ; three 
quarters of a pound of sugar ; one half pound butter ; 
three eggs ; caraway or spice. 

Sugar Gingerbread. Twenty eggs ; three pounds 
of flour ; two and one half pounds of sugar ; three 
quarters or one pound of butter ; cup of ginger. Spice 
if you choose. 

Cake Sandwiches. Cut a stale loaf of sponge cake 
as if bread, and spread strawberry jam or currant jelly 
over them. 

Cream Cake. One cup of molasses ; one cup of 



70 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

sour cream, frothed with a dessert-spoonful of saleratus. 
Mix in flour to make it as stiff as a pound cake. Sub- 
stitute sugar for molasses, and you will have a nice 
ginger cake. 

Molly Saunders's Gingerbread. One half pound 
of butter ; one pint of molasses, (sugar-house molasses 
is best ;) two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus, dissolved in a 
gill of milk or water ; one and three fourths pounds of 
. flour ; ginger to your taste. 

Ginger Nuts. Three pounds of flour; one and one 
half pounds sugar; one and one quarter pounds butter ; 
one ounce cloves ; three ounces ginger ; orange or lemon 
peel. Mix it with molasses to make it like gingerbread, 
and roll it out or form it into balls. 

Soft Molasses Gingerbread. Five tea-cups of 
flour ; three cups of molasses ; one cup of cream ; one 
cup of butter; one table-spoonful of ginger, and one 
of saleratus. Boil the molasses, and melt the butter in it. 

Soft Gingerbread. One quart of molasses ; six 
ounces butter or lard ; one pint of milk ; one ounce of 
ginger; one ounce of saleratus; two eggs. Boil the 
molasses. 

Molasses Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour; 
one pound of butter ; six gills of molasses ; one gill of 
milk ; one half of a tea-cup of ginger ; one large tea- 
spoonful of saleratus. Put the butter into the flour ; 
dissolve the saleratus in a little milk ; mix the molasses 
and milk together. Or, boil the molasses ; add the milk 
and butter. 

Another. To one pint of molasses add three gills 
of milk, two ounces of butter melted, not quite an 
ounce of saleratus ; ginger to your taste. Mix them 
well together ; then stir in enough flour to make it stiff 
enough to roll. Bake it in a quick oven, on sheets, as 
soon as possible after it is made. Boil the molasses. 

Another. One pound of flour ; half pound of but- 
ter ; half pint of molasses ; three eggs ; one tea-spoon- 
ful of saleratus ; half ounce of ginger. Mix it with 
cider. 



GINGERBREAD. 71 

Another. Three and one half pounds of flour ; 
three quarters pound butter ; three tea-spoonfuls of sal- 
eratus dissolved in a cup of sour milk ; three table- 
spoonfuls of ginger, and one table-spoonful of cinna- 
mon. Molasses enough to make it stiff enough to roll. 

Another. Three and one half pounds of flour ; 
three fourths of a pound of butter ; three spoonfuls of 
saleratus dissolved in a cup of sour milk ; three table- 
spoonfuls of ginger; one table-spoonful of cinnamon; 
molasses sufficient. 

Soft Molasses Gingerbread. Five pounds of flour ; 
twelve gills of molasses; two ounces of ginger; one 
and one half ounces saleratus ; one pint milk ; six ounces 
of butter or lard, or drippings ; two eggs. 

Bakers' Molasses Gingerbread. One quart of 
molasses ; one quart cider ; three ounces of saleratus ; 
three fourths pound of butter ; three spoonfuls ginger. 
To be mixed not very stiff. 

Ginger Snaps. Two and one half pounds of flour ; 
half a pound of butter or lard ; half a pound of sugar ; 
one pint of molasses ; one tea-spoonful saleratus ; car- 
away seeds or ginger. This should be rolled very thin, 
and baked but a few minutes. It softens by being kept. 

Doughnuts. One pound of flour; one half pound 
sugar ; one quarter pound butter ; three eggs. Mix 
with water or milk ; fry them in hot lard. 

Doughnuts. One and one half cup sugar; one 
and one half table-spoonfuls butter ; one cup milk ; 
one tea-spoon saleratus ; as much flour as will make 
it stiff enough to roll ; spice ; three eggs. 

Doughnuts. Three pounds of flour ; one and one 
half pounds of sugar ; one quarter pound of butter ; 
five eggs ; spice. Roll out, and fried in hot lard. 

Doughnuts. Four pounds of flour ; two pounds 
sugar ; three fourths of a pound of butter ; sixteen 
eggs ; spoonful saleratus ; spice. 

Cream Tartar Doughnuts. Make them exactly 
like the cream tartar cakes, (see page 44,) with the 



72 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

addition of three spoonfuls of sugar, one egg, and 
some pounded orange or lemon peel. 

Raised Doughnuts. Boil a quart of milk, and 
rub smooth in a little cold milk a gill of ground rice. 
When the milk boils, add the rice, with a tea-spoonful 
of salt. Allow it to boil until quite thick, stirring it so 
that it shall not burn. When cool, add a cup of good 
yeast, and thicken it about as stiff as good bread. 
Knead it as well as your bread. Let this rise over 
night, and when light, add a half pound of butter, 
five eggs, a pound of sugar, or a pint of molasses ; 
adding nutmeg, lemon peel, or any other spice. 

Any light dough can be easily made into dough- 
nuts by the addition of sugar, butter, and spice. An 
egg or two prevents the cakes from soaking much fat. 

Doughnuts. Six pounds of flour ; one pound su- 
gar ; one pound butter ; one pint yeast ; spice to your 
taste. Let these rise over night. Mixed with milk or 
water. 

Symballs. One cup sugar; one cup milk; one 
tea-spoonful saleratus ; flour enough to make a stiff 
paste ; spice. Rolled and fried in hot lard. 

To have fried cakes good and light, the fat should 
be of proper heat. When hot enough to put in the 
dough, the fat stops bubbling and will be perfectly still. 
If at the proper heat, the cakes will rise to the top in 
a very few seconds, the fat will bubble, the cakes will 
swell or rise, and the under side will become brown. 
Turn them, that the other side may brown. It is best 
to break open one of the cakes, in order to judge if 
they are cooked. When done, take them out with a 
skimmer into your colander to drain well. If the fat 
is too hot, the outside will become cooked and brown 
before the inside is warmed ; and if too cool, the cakes 
will soak too much fat. 

Doughnuts that contain saleratus soak up far more 
fat than those made without it, and the more saleratus 
they contain the more fat they will imbibe. This is 



PASTRY. 



73 



on the chemical principle of making soap, where the 
alkali absorbs the grease. It is more healthy, therefore, 
to make doughnuts with eggs, or raise the dough just 
enough with yeast to make it light but not sour. 

Sweet Potato Cake. Pare and grate several sweet 
potatoes, and to every three pounds of grated potato 
add two pounds of sugar ; twelve eggs ; a little more 
than three pints of milk ; the juice and grated rind of 
a lemon ; a quarter of a pound of melted butter ; a 
table-spoonful of rose water; a little cinnamon and 
mace, with a tea spoonful of salt. Mix well together, 
and bake in deep pans for two hours. 

Unbolted Flour Cake. A tea-cup of sour cream, 
saleratus enough to sweeten it ; a tea-cup of molasses, 
flour sufficient to mix it ; nutmeg ; one pound of cur- 
rants. Bake in a deep pan. 

Tumbler Cake. Six tumblers flour; three of su- 
gar ; one of butter ; one of molasses ; three of currants 
or chopped raisins ; four eggs ; one tea-spoonful of 
saleratus in a tumbler of sweet or sour milk ; spice as 
you please. 

Barnard Cake. One pound sugar; two pounds 
flour ; one fourth pound butter ; put these together in 
a pan, and grate one nutmeg into it. Rub them thor- 
oughly together. Dissolve a table-spoonful of salera- 
tus in a full pint of sour milk, then beat all together, 
and put in one and one half pounds of raisins. 

Rice Puffs. To a pint of rice add a tea-spoonful 
of salt ; a pint of boiling water. Beat up four eggs 
and stir them well together. Drop this mixture into 



boiling fat. 



PASTRY. 



The griddle, on which muffins are baked with us in 
America, as also in Europe, is the same utensil as that 
used in the East, and it is fixed in the same manner 
over the fire. It serves the Moors for a variety of 



74 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

dishes and preparations of flour. On it is made the 
pastry of the East, which all travellers have tasted, 
and which many have pronounced exquisite, though 
few have described, and fewer still, perhaps, imagined 
different from that made in Europe or America. 

The secret of French pastry consists in bringing the 
butter and dough to exactly the same consistency. 
This is effected by temperature for the butter, by water 
for the dough ; cooling down the one and softening the 
other. When so done, the butter in one mass is rolled 
into the dough, as in French pastry, or as with us, 
more commonly, put on to the dough in small pats or 
dabs ; it then spreads under the rolling-pin equally as 
the dough spreads, each in its own plane. Folded 
over and over again, the two keep distinct ; and thus 
are obtained the flakes. 

The butter of the East is fluid, and runs like oil. 
This difficulty must be overcome, to enable the inhab- 
itants to enjoy flake pastry. Ingenuity soon devised 
the following plan: "The wheat (in the grain) is 
steeped till it sprouts ; it is then rubbed or pounded in 
a mortar till it acquires the consistency of cream. In 
this state, it is poured in ladles on the griddle, rubbed 
with butter. Instantly hardening, it is tossed off sheet 
after sheet. The name given to it is Yolka. This is 
then strung on strings and hung up. When wanted, 
a bundle is laid on the dish for under crust ; the con- 
tents, sweet or savory, of the pastry, are then put in, 
and the upper crust laid on in the same way. By this 
process are attained, in the highest degree, all the 
objects of French pastry — softness in the substance, 
fineness and equality in the flake." It has one advan- 
tage over our pastry, of facility and economy of time. 
This information may lead some one of our ingenious 
Yankee housewives to devise a new method to obviate 
the many difficulties of our fashion of making pastry; 
to remedy the effects of hot weather and the clumsi- 
ness of inexperienced cooks. 



PASTRY. 



75 



Although there is nothing more simple to make, if 
pains be taken, so will the smallest neglect produce a 
failure. Neither is it with the making of pastry alone 
that so much care is required, but also with the baking. 

Paste badly made will not improve in baking, neither 
will well-made paste be good if ill cooked. 

Having sifted your flour and weighed the butter or 
lard, the proportion of one to the other must be reg- 
ulated by each person's notions of healthiness and 
economy. One third lard makes better pastry than if 
all butter is used. If one third lard is used, rub the 
lard, with a tea-spoon of salt, into the flour. The least 
possible time should be taken in doing this, as the 
heat of the hands will soften the lard too much. Add 
the water, in which have been beaten one or two eggs. 
If the paste is made wholly of lard, allow a tea-spoon- 
ful of salt to every pint or pound of flour. Some 
people put in a small tea-spoonful of soda. Put the 
salt into the flour, and the saleratus into the water 
with which you mix your paste. When you have put 
in the water, stir it up quickly, as stiff' as you can, 
with a spoon. Put it on to your pasteboard as soon 
as you can roll it. A large slate makes a very good 
pasteboard for those who are not lucky enough to 
have a marble one. Roll from you always, not back 
and forth. When rolled, lay the butter (which should 
have been worked to a cream the day before wanted, 
and put on ice) on all parts of the paste, in thin cut- 
tings. Dredge a little flour over the butter, and fold 
up the dough in a long roll ; flatten it a little with the 
pin ; double it by laying the two ends meeting in the 
centre. Roll again — flour, butter, and roll, in same 
manner, for three successive times. It is well to divide 
your butter into three equal parts, putting one part in 
the dough at each roll. This being done, set the paste 
into a cool place. It is of importance to observe that 
the paste should be neither too stiff nor too soft, but 
of a proper consistency ; it will be better when it is a 
little too soft than when too stiff. 



76 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Paste should not be made softer in summer than in 
winter ; for if your butter has been creamed and put 
on the ice, it will be of the same consistency as when 
it is used in winter. As soon as your paste is made, 
set it on the ice. When the paste is used, cut off 
enough to make two or three pies ; set the remainder 
on the ice. In rolling out the paste to cover the pies, 
cut a piece from your roll crossivise or cornering. This 
makes the paste more flaky. Press the rolling-pin 
equally on all parts, that it may be of equal thickness. 

Having your plate buttered, lay on the crust. Pass 
your hand over it so that all parts may touch the plate. 
Take the plate on the palm of your left hand, and 
with your right trim the edges of the dough even with 
the dish by holding a knife with the handle under 
the plate, and the blade slanting outwardly. Wet 
with water the rim of the paste, and put round 
another thickness ; then fill your pie. Wet the rim 
again and cover the pie. Some people make a less 
rich paste for the under than the upper crust of their 
pies. 

I will give the method of making French pastry ; 
and, to be successful, one must be particular in the 
proportions, and very careful in the mixing : — 

Puff Paste. Put one pound of flour on your 
pastry board or slab, make a hole in the centre, in 
which put the yolk of one egg and the juice of one 
lemon, with a pinch of salt; mix it with cold water 
(iced in summer) into a softish, flexible paste. With 
the right hand dry it off a little with flour, until you 
have well cleaned the paste from the slab, but do not 
work it more than you can possibly help ; let it remain 
two minutes upon the slab ; then have a pound of 
fresh butter, from which you have squeezed all the 
buttermilk in a cloth, bringing it to the same consis- 
tency as the paste, and upon w T hich place it ; press it 
out with the hand ; then fold over the edges of the 
paste so as to hide the butter, and roll it with the roll- 



PASTRY. 77 

ing-pin to the thickness of a quarter of an inch, thus 
making it about two feet in length ; fold over one 
third, over which again pass the rolling-pin ; then fold 
over the other third, thus forming a square ; place it, 
with the ends, top and bottom, before you, shaking, 
both under and over it, a little flour, and repeat the 
rolls and turns twice again, as before ; flour a baking 
sheet, upon which lay it upon ice or in some cold 
place (but in summer it would be almost impossible 
to make this pastry without ice) for half an hour ; 
then roll twice more, turning as before ; place again 
upon the ice for a quarter of an hour ; give it two more 
rolls, making seven in all, and it is ready for use 
when required, rolling it out into whatever thickness, 
according to what you intend making. 

People differ as to the proper thickness of pie crust. 
Some fruits require thicker crusts than others ; for 
peach and pumpkin, it should never be more than one 
eighth of an inch ; for juicy fruits, such as berries, 
cherries, currants, and for mince pies, the paste should 
be thicker. Use deep dishes for pies of juicy fruits. 
Do not fill the dish even full, as the sirup is liable to 
boil over, and the richness of the pie is lost. Do not 
forget to moisten the rims of the paste in putting on 
the covers, and press the edges together. Pass the 
inner edge of the hand round the pie on the inside of 
the rim, and press it well down. In juicy fruit pies it 
is well to prick the top a few times with a fork. This 
is done to allow the steam to escape. To prevent the 
under crust of pies from being clammy, or soaked with 
the materials with which they are filled, they should 
not be filled until just as you put them into the oven. 
In fact, it is a good plan to part bake your paste be- 
fore you fill the pies, particularly with pumpkin, Marl- 
borough, or potato puddings. Pies which are covered 
should stand filled only long enough for the upper 
crust to be put on. Pastry should be baked in a quick 
oven. For every description of pastry, vou can judge 
7* 



78 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

of the heat of the oven by placing your hand about 
midway in ; hold it there a quarter of a minute. If 
you can hold it there for that length of time, the oven 
is not hot enough. After all, the safest way is to bake a 
small piece of paste before putting in the whole. Pump- 
kin pies require nearly an hour to bake. Like the 
brown breads, both squash and pumpkin puddings 
need a good soaking: Apple and peach pies bake in 
three fourths of an hour. Cherry and plum pies need 
one and one half hours. Meat for pies should not be 
chopped until cold. If you have more pastry made 
than you wash to use, make a hole in your flour barrel, 
put it in to keep it from drying and turning yellow. 

Pastry is very obnoxious to delicate stomachs, owing 
to the injurious influence of heat on all fat and oily 
substances, most especially butter. 

Puff Paste with Beef Suet. "Where you cannot 
obtain good butter for making paste, the following 
is a good substitute : Skin and chop one pound of kid- 
ney beef suet very fine ; put it into a mortar and pound 
it well, moistening with a little oil, until becoming as 
it were one piece, and about the consistency of butter ; 
proceed as in the last, exactly, using it instead of 
butter. 

Half Puff Paste. Put one pound of flour on 
your pastry slab, with two ounces of butter, rub them 
well together. With the hands, make a hole in the 
middle, in which put a pinch of salt and a yolk of an 
egg, with the juice of a lemon ; mix with water as 
before, then roll it thin. Lay half a pound of butter, 
prepared as for puff paste, rolled into thin sheets over ; 
fold it in three, roll and fold again twice over, lay it in 
a cold place for a quarter of an hour ; give another 
roll, and it is ready for use when required. This 
paste is mostly used for fruit tarts, for wttich it is well 
adapted. 

Short Paste. Put a pound of flour on your pastry 
slab, make a hole in the centre, into which put an 



PASTRY. 79 

ounce of salt, half a pound of fresh butter, with suffi- 
cient water to make a paste. Mix well together. 

Short Paste for Fruit Tarts. Rub into one 
pound of flour six ounces of butter. Make a hole in 
the centre and put in two ounces of sugar, two eggs, 
and a large wine glass of water. Mix the eggs, sugar, 
and water well ; then stir in the flour and work it 
lightly. 

Small Fruit Tarts. If you should have any cut- 
tings left of puff* pastry, make the following little cakes : 
Roll out the paste about the thickness of a dollar ; cut 
out some rounds with the paste cutter ; take half of 
these, and with a wine glass cut out the centre ; wet 
the whole round, and lay the ring on, pressing them 
together. Egg them over and sift finely-sifted sugar 
over them. Fill them when cold with preserves of any 
kind. 

Potato Paste. Boil some potatoes ; mash them 
to a smooth paste ; add, while warm, a little butter ; 
add some flour with a little milk or water. 

The French pastry cooks are famous for their vols- 
au-vent, which are nothing more than raised pies of 
meat, fresh or preserved fruits. There is much skill 
required to make these vols-au-vent, without a mould, 
though it is often done by good cooks. All pies look 
handsomer, and are no more trouble to make if baked 
in a mould made on purpose, than if cooked in a pie 
dish. 

French Recipe for Raised Pie. Well wipe and 
butter the interior of the mould. Have ready two 
pounds of nice paste, rather fine than otherwise ; two 
thirds of this rolled out to fit the mould ; press it even- 
ly over the interior, raising the paste half an inch 
above the edge of the mould. Have previously pre- 
pared six pounds of veal cut from the fillet, as follows : 
cut four pounds into pieces an inch in breadth, and as 
nearly as possible to the length of the pie. With the 
remainder, make a forcemeat, (see recipe.) Have ready 



80 THE AMERTCAN MATRON. 

two pounds of lean bacon, cut into pieces of nearly 
the same size as veal. Put a quarter of a pound of 
butter into a frying pan, and when melted, put in the 
veal and bacon ; season it highly with a tea-spoonful 
of salt; same of pepper; half a nutmeg; a tea-spoon- 
ful of mace ; a table-spoonful each of chopped onions 
and parsley. Fry the whole together, occasionally turn- 
ing the meat, that all may be slightly browned. Line 
the interior of the mould with some of the forcemeat, 
to the thickness of half an inch ; after this put a layer 
of veal, and a few pieces of the ham alternately, and 
cover over with forcemeat about an inch in thickness ; 
then more veal and bacon, with forcemeat until full, 
finishing with forcemeat, forming a dome about an 
inch above the paste. Put a quarter of a pound of 
butter on the top ; mould the remainder of the paste 
to a ball, which roll to the size of the top of the pie ; wet 
the edges, lay on the top crust, which press down with 
the thumb, working it up gracefully with the thumb 
and forefinger to about an inch above the top of the 
mould, cutting the paste away where too thick, and 
mark it with a knife, spoon, or crimp it with a pair of 
paste nippers ; make a little hole in the top. Orna- 
ment it in any fashion, with leaves cut from paste to 
suit one's taste. Tie a band of buttered paper round the 
mould an inch above the pie. Put it in a moderate 
oven to bake about two hours. Be sure it is cooked ; 
try it, by running a pointed knife into the centre, and 
if it feels tender, it is done. Take it from the oven, 
pour into it a gill of strong gravy, in which you have 
dissolved a little isinglass, especially in summer. Take 
it from the mould, which opens at one end by drawing 
out a pin, and serve upon a napkin, garnished with 
parsley. 

Every description of raised pies can be made after 
this manner, the difference being in the contents. 

If your pie is fowl, make a paste and forcemeat as 
in the above — instead of veal and ham, have a fowl — 



VORY PIES. 81 

and season the interior with pepper, salt, and chopped 
onions. Fill inside with some of the forcemeat; 
spread a layer of forcemeat, both under and over the 
fowl, on the crust in the mould. Sprinkle with salt 
and pepper; cover with remainder of paste. When 
done, pour in gravy made from bones of fowl, highly 
seasoned. Serve cold. 

Sausage meat is a very good forcemeat, and can be 
readily obtained. 

In making these pies from fruits, the paste is baked 
first in a pyramidal-shaped mould. While baking, 
the paste is filled with dr,y flour. When done, take 
out the flour, open the mould, and fill the crust with 
any prepared fruits. 

If you have no mould, make a quarter of a pound 
of paste ; roll it round or oval, as it pleases your fancy, 
a quarter of an inch thick ; wet the edge all round, 
about half an inch ; raise that part and pinch it round 
with your thumb and finger, making a raised border 
all round. Put it on a baking sheet ; fill it w.ith fruit, 
one row ; if large, two. Sift sugar over according to 
the acidity of the fruit. This will take less time to 
bake than in the mould. 



SAVORY PIES. 

Venison Pie. Cut a breast and neck into small 
pieces ; rub them over with a seasoning of sweet herbs, 
grated nutmeg, pepper, and salt ; fry them slightly in 
butter; line the sides and edges of a dish with puff 
paste, and lay in the meat, adding half a pint of rich 
gravy, made with the trimmings of the venison. Put 
in a glass of port or claret wine, the juice of half a 
lemon, or tea-spoonful of vinegar. Cover the dish with 
puff paste, and bake it nearly two hours. With a 
sharp knife, cut a small circle two thirds through 
the thickness of paste, which can be removed after 



82 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



being baked, to pour in through a tunnel more gravy 
if needed. 

Another. Stew the venison slightly ; season it 
highly with pepper, salt, nutmeg, orange peel, and 
claret wine. Put the paste as above. When the 
meat is partially cooked, add it to the pies. They 
will be ready to serve as soon as the paste is well 
browned and baked. 

Chicken Pie. Make a good puff paste ; allow one 
half a pound of butter to one pound of flour. Put a 
thin under crust round the dish ; cut up the chickens ; 
parboil them in a very littlg water, with salt and pep- 
per. When cooked, take out the chicken ; put into 
the liquor the legs, livers, and gizzards ; a piece of but- 
ter rolled in flour. When boiled sufficiently, strain it. 
Have a pint of oysters ; season them highly ; fill up 
the pie with chicken, oysters, and eggs boiled hard and 
sliced. Strain the liquor ; cover the pie, and bake it. 
When cooked, if not gravy enough, put in the remain- 
der with a tunnel, as above directed. 

If the pie is not to be eaten the day it is baked, the 
eggs had better be omitted ; they give an unpleasant 
flavor. 

Another. The chickens should be parboiled, and 
all the meat taken from the bones. Put into the dish, 
alternately, oysters and chicken ; season the gravy as 
above. If made in a dish, fill up with the gravy; but 
if in raised crust, the gravy must be strained and 
added cold, as jelly, by the addition of isinglass, or a 
calf's foot boiled up with it. 

To make a Pasty of Mutton to eat as nice as 
Venison. Bone a fat loin of mutton, after it has been 
killed four or five days ; beat it well with a rolling-pin ; 
rub ten pounds of meat with four ounces of sugar, 
and pour over it a glass of port, and the same of vine- 
gar. Let it remain five days and nights, turning 
and basting it with the liquor. Wash and wipe the 
meat very dry, and season it very highly with pepper, 



SAVORY PIES. 83 

nutmeg, and salt. Stew it gently until about half 
cooked. Then, having your paste ready in your pie 
dish, proceed as with a venison pasty. Put the bones 
in a pan, with no more water than will cover them, 
one glass of port or claret, and a little pepper and salt, 
thickened with a bit of butter braided with flour. Boil 
them together for the gravy to be added to the pie. 

Pigeon Pie. Lay a thin paste around the rim and 
sides of the dish ; rub the pigeons with pepper and 
salt, inside and out ; in the inside put a bit of but- 
ter, and if you like, some parsley, chopped with the 
livers. Lay a beefsteak at the bottom of the dish, 
cut into slices, not too thin, seasoned with a little salt, 
pepper, and cayenne, and the birds on it, breast up- 
wards. Have four eggs boiled hard, slice them and 
put them at the sides ; sprinkle a little pepper and salt 
over the pigeons; pour in a little water; cover with 
paste. 

Partridge Pie. Line the bottom of a pie dish 
with slices of veal, cut moderately thick, and rather 
slightly seasoned with pepper and salt. Have ready 
picked, drawn, and trussed, a couple of young par- 
tridges ; pour one glass of sherry over the veal, and 
lay the partridges breast to breast, laying a piece of 
fat bacon over each ; cover with paste. 

Some people, in both pigeon and partridge pie, stick 
the feet of the birds (nicely cleaned) in a hole in the 
top crust, to mark the kind of pie. 

Various other Pies. Hot pies may be made with 
mutton. They can also be made with a fillet of beef, 
cut into thin slices the size of a chop, or with rum]) 
steak, by laying a piece at the bottom, seasoning, and 
filling alternately with potatoes and meat. Veal and 
ham pies are excellent. You may omit the potatoes. 
Dip the veal, well seasoned, into flour. Veal sweet- 
breads and ham make nice pies. Pour in a cupful of 
some white gravy after the pie is baked. Rabbits and 
fowls, cut up, and stewed with a little butter, pepper, 



84 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

salt, (and, if you choose, an onion chopped,) make 
most excellent pies. You can make these pies of any 
size, either large enough for a family dinner, or small, 
round, or oval, for a corner dish for a party. 

If you wish the paste to look very nice, egg it over 
well before putting it in to bake. If you wish it to be 
white, use only the white of the egg well beaten ; if 
yellow, use the whole egg. 

. Oyster Pie. Have a puff paste, ready made ; but- 
ter a deep dish, and invert a small teacup in the cen- 
tre. This serves a double purpose — the liquor will 
be drawn under and prevented from boiling out, and 
also it will keep the crust from falling in. Put in a 
layer of oysters, adding a little pepper, salt, butter, and 
cracker, finely pounded. Continue to do this alter- 
nately until your dish is filled. Then pour in as much 
liquor as you can. Cover it well ; it will bake in an 
hour. It is a good plan, after the paste is rolled, to 
insert on it the dish you intend baking the pie in, and 
cut out the cover a little larger than the dish. Cut a 
small circle two thirds through in the centre, which 
can be removed when the pie is cooked, and the re- 
mainder of oyster liquor, with a little milk, added (to 
make a tea-cupful) through a tunnel to the pie. 

Oyster Patties are nothing more than little pies 
baked in patty pans. The crust should be baked sep- 
arately. Line the pans with puff paste; fill them 
either with dry flour or make a hard paste, which roll 
up and put into the pans ; cover them and bake. When 
cooked, remove the balls (which can be kept for this 
purpose) and fill them with the oysters which have 
been cut up small, and stewed in their own liquor. 
Season them highly. Lobster, beef, veal, turkey, in 
fact, any meat, may be easily made into patties in the 
same manner. Use different seasoning with the differ- 
ent fish and flesh. Govern yourself by the rules laid 
down for savory pies. 



POT PIES, OR MEAT PUDDINGS. 85 



POT PIES, OR MEAT PUDDINGS, AND PIES. 

Beefsteak Pudding. Take a pound of flour, and 
half a pound of finely -chopped beef suet ; a tea-spoon- 
ful of salt, and sufficient water to form a stiffish paste. 
Mix these well together. Butter the interior of a round- 
bottomed pudding bowl ; line it with two thirds of the 
paste, rolled to half an inch in thickness. Cut up in 
small pieces a rump steak, with a little fat. Season 
with two tea-spoonfuls of salt and one of black pepper ; 
sprinkle a little flour over them. Lay them within the 
paste ; pour a gill of water over, moistening the edges 
of the paste. Roll out the remainder of paste to 
form a cover ; put it on ; press it well together with the 
thumb. Tie over the bowl a pudding cloth. Put it 
into a pot of boiling water, and keep constantly boiling 
for two hours. Keep the pot filled with water. When 
done, untie the cloth ; run a sharp-pointed knife into 
the pudding ; if it feels tender, it is cooked. Turn it 
over on the dish ; lift the bowl carefully from it, and 
serve hot, immediately. 

Veal Pot Pie can be cooked in the old-fashioned 
way, in the iron pot or in a buttered bowl. An hour 
will cook veal. A few slices of bacon are an improve- 
ment to a veal pie. 

Lamb, Mutton, Pork, and Kidneys, with a few doz- 
en oysters, make excellent puddings. You can change 
the seasoning; with some, putting onions, with others, 
a few potatoes sliced, chopped parsley, thyme, or sweet 
marjoram. Potato paste is very good for these pud- 
dings ; or, better still, a paste made with cream tartar 
and soda is much lighter than any paste, when boiled. 
Or, cover the meat over with crust of boiled rice about 
an inch thick ; egg it over or not, as you please. Brown 
it well. 

Mince Pies. Three pounds of meat, after boiled ; 
four pounds of suet ; three pounds of apples ; three 



86 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

and one half pounds of sugar; three pounds of cur- 
rants; three pounds of raisins; one and one half pints of 
wine ; three gills cider ; one pint brandy ; ten nutmegs, 
and their weight in mace ; cloves and cinnamon ; salt 
to your taste ; the peel of six lemons grated; the juice 
of three lemons ; citron. This will fill twenty pies. 

Mince Pies. Two pounds of beef; two pounds of 
suet ; two pounds of sugar ; one pound of stoned rai- 
sins ; one of currants ; one pint of wine ; two ounces 
of mixed spice ; salt ; twelve apples. 

Mince Pies. One pound of tongue ; two pounds of 
suet ; three pounds of raisins ; one half dozen apples ; 
one ounce of mace ; one quarter ounce of cloves ; one 
nutmeg ; juice of one lemon ; the peel of two lemons, 
chopped very fine ; one half pound of citron. 

Mince Pies. One pound of beef, after boiling; 
three fourths of a pound of suet; one and one half 
pounds of apples, after being chopped ; one pound of 
raisins, after stoned ; one pound of sugar ; some of the 
liquor in which the meat was boiled ; wine ; brandy ; 
spice ; cider. Salt to your taste. 

Paste for the above. Three pounds of flour ; two 
and one half pounds of butter ; one half pound of 
lard, rubbed into the flour ; salt. The butter rolled in 
twice. 

Plain Mince Pies. Any cheap piece of meat, boiled 
till tender ; add suet or salt pork boiled in the liquor 
with the meat, and chopped or scraped fine ; two thirds 
as much apple as meat. Sugar and spice to your 
taste. Lemon and a little sirup of sweetmeats will 
greatly improve them. Some people, after the fat has 
been removed from the liquor in which the meat was 
boiled, put in the mince and let it boil for ten minutes. 
This will cook the mince, and you can bake the paste 
if you prefer, and fill afterwards. If you have more 
meat than you wish to use immediately, do not add 
the apples to the whole, but add one half or an equal 
quantity of chopped apples, as you have meat, to that 



pies. 87 

you use. Keep what you do not use in a jar, for future 
use, and turn on a little brandy. Cover it tight, to keep 
the air from it. Whenever used, add the required 
quantity of chopped apples, and more wine or cider to 
moisten the meat. Champagne wine may be used if 
preferred. 

Apple Pies. Pare, core, and cut sufficient apples to 
fill the dish ; put a small cup in the middle or not, as 
you like ; one clove to every three apples ; a very little 
pounded cinnamon; a small piece of chopped lemon 
peel, and sugar. Bake according to size. 

You can simply stew your apples beforehand, if you 
so prefer ; spice it as you like ; sugar, and a small bit 
of butter ; fill your pies. Or make a sirup with sugar, 
and preserve the apple in quarters. In this way you 
have nicer pies. 

You can slice fresh apples very thin ; grate a little 
nutmeg over the slices ; strew sugar, and add a piece 
of butter. 

Fruit Pies. These are made in pie dishes, the top 
of which is only covered with paste. Wet the edge 
of dish, and put round a strip of paste about an inch 
wide and a quarter inch thick. Fill the dish with fruit ; 
wet the paste on the edge, and cover with puff paste. 
Mark the outer rim with a roller or the back of a knife. 

Dried Apple Pies. Wash the apples in two or 
three waters, and put them to soak in rather more 
water than will cover them, as they absorb a great deal. 
After soaking an hour or two, put them into a pre- 
serving kettle with the same water, and with the peel 
of one or two lemons, chopped fine. Boil tender; 
when they rise, press them down, but do not stir them. 
When tender, add sugar, and boil fifteen or twenty 
minutes longer. Dried apples, soaked over night, are 
made tasteless, and are mashed up by being stirred. 
When cooked, stir in butter, nutmeg, or clove. 

Huckleberry or Blackberry Pies. Put a good 
puff paste on to the pie plate with a rim as directed in 



88 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

making other pies. Fill the plate not quite even full. 
Heap the berries a little in the centre. And to each 
pie of common size add four large spoonfuls of sugar, 
if made of huckleberry ; five, if made of blackberry 
or blueberry. Put a few small, thin slices of butter, 
and dredge over a very little flour before putting on the 
upper crust. 

Rhubarb, Gooseberry, Currant, Cherry, Plum, 
Quince, fresh Cranberry, are made in the same way. 
You can season them with cinnamon or nutmeg, or 
chopped lemon peel. 

Peach Pies. If the peaches are dried, stew them 
first in a little water ; if fresh, pare them, cut them in 
halves, or slice them. Break the stones, adding the 
kernels to the pie. A little sugar, a very little cream, 
according to the size of the pie, may be put in at the 
same time. 

Dried Plum Pies. Soak the plums, and stew them 
gently ; season them with spice ; sugar ; put a puff 
paste on to the plate ; then put a layer of the plums, 
stewed ; roll out a piece of paste thin ; cover them ; 
add another layer of plums, and cover for the last time. 
You may have as many stories to your pie as you 
choose. 

Jelly Pies. Make a jelly of any fresh fruit — green 
grapes, cranberries, or any other. Put a paste on the 
plate ; fill it with jelly ; put strips of paste, hand- 
somely cut or twisted, across the top. Ornament 
according to your taste. Do not put a cover over 
them. 

Apples prepared for nice Pies. The apples must 
be white and juicy. Cut them in small, thick pieces, 
into cold water ; drain them and put them into a pre- 
serving kettle ; a layer of apple, then some fresh lemon 
peel, shred finely ; then cover these thick with sifted 
white sugar, and wet it with rose-water ; then again 
apple, lemon, and sugar, in successive layers, until the 
kettle is filled. Stew them gently, closely covered, 






EGGS. 89 

until half or three quarters done, when remove the, 
cover ; see that they are cooking equally, taking care 
not to mash them. If rightly cooked, they will look 
clear, and in good shape. Squeeze in a little lemon 
juice, if you like. 

EGGS. 

Fresh or newly-laid eggs, when lightly cooked, as 
when poached or slightly boiled, are nutritive and 
moderately easy to digest. The lightest as well as the 
simplest mode of preparing eggs for the table, is to 
boil them, only as long as is necessary to coagulate 
slightly the white or glaise, without hardening the yolk. 
The raw yolk of the egg is often taken whipped in tea 
or milk, and is an agreeable and digestible food. Mixed 
with wine or brandy, it forms a valuable restorative 
and stimulant. When boiled hard, or when fried in 
butter or fat, eggs are commonly difficult to digest. 
Omelets, pancakes, fritters, and all other dishes made 
with eggs and fried, are injurious to persons of delicate 
digestion. 

The albumen (the white or glaise) of eggs is used 
by the cook to clarify sirups and jellies. Its efficacy 
depends on its coagulation, by which it entangles in 
its meshes the impurities, with which it either rises to 
the surface or precipitates. 

Eggs, plain boiled. Have boiling in a saucepan 
about a pint of water, into which put gently, with a 
spoon, two or three fresh eggs. Be careful not to crack 
them, as the egg will escape and appear on the out- 
side. Three minutes will cook a common-sized egg ; 
if small, from two minutes to two and a half. Eggs 
boiled hard for salads or sauces should not boil more 
than ten minutes, and when cooked, put them into 
cold water for five or ten minutes. Take off the shells, 
and they are ready for use. 

Poached or Dropped Eggs. Have boiling in a 

a* 



90 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

spider a pint of water with a little salt. Break an egg 
into a cup carefully, so that the yolk is not broken, and 
pour it into the water as near the surface as possible. 
With a large spoon throw the hot water over the yolk 
until the white is cooked to a semi-transparent film 
over it. Have ready toast, buttered on a dish ; take 
the egg out with a slice, and serve it on the toast. 

Hard Scrabble. Take four or six eggs ; beat them 
separately with a little salt and pepper ; put a little 
butter into a saucepan ; when melted, pour in the egg, 
stirring well until thick. Serve on toast hot. 

Baked or Roasted Egg. Butter a fire-proof dish, 
and into which break six eggs carefully, so as not to 
mix the yolks and whites ; shake a little pepper and 
salt over them ; put over them, in small pieces, half an 
ounce of butter. Put them in a moderate oven until 
set ; then serve hot. 

Baked Egg. Be careful and make a small incision 
with a fork or pin in the large end of the eggshell, or 
the air there confined will expand and burst the shell, 
and you will lose the egg. Put as many as you wish 
into a pan ; set it into a moderate oven, and ten min- 
utes will cook the eggs sufficiently. 

Omelets. Take six or eight eggs ; break them, 
keeping the whites and yolks separate ; beat the whites 
to a still' froth, and put into the yolks a little salt and 
pepper ; when well beaten, mix the white and yolks 
together ; have ready, hot, a small piece of butter in 
your spider, (if not lucky enough to have an omelet 
pan,) and pour in egg sufficient for one omelet. This 
mixture can be seasoned with finely-chopped ham, 
parsley, or grated cheese, to the taste. Be careful nei- 
ther to burn or brown them too much. When ready 
to dish, fold one half over the other in the form of a 
semicircle, and send it immediately on a hot plate to 
table. Continue to cook until the mixture is used up, 
sending each one to table as it is cooked. ¥ 

Tomato Omelet. Mix two or three table-spoonfuls 



PRESERVATION OF EGGS. 91 

of flour with a very little water; add six or eight well- 
beaten eggs, with salt and pepper. Peel, and chop very 
fine, three or four tomatoes ; stir these together, and fry 
as above, or in one large omelet. Oysters can be 
used instead of tomatoes, chopping them fine. 

Omelet. Break and beat well four eggs ; take a 
tea-spoonful of flour, wet with milk, and add the eggs ; 
put in onions, parsley, with pepper, salt and nutmeg. 
Fry as above. 

Pickled Eggs. Boil them until hard; throw them 
hot into cold water, which will make the shell slip off 
smoothly after the eggs have remained in it about ten 
minutes ; boil some red beets till very soft ; peel and 
mash them fine, and put enough of the liquor into 
cold vinegar to color it pink ; add a little salt, pepper, 
nutmeg, and cloves ; put the eggs into a jar and pour 
the beets, vinegar &c, over them. This makes a 
pretty garnish for fish or corned meats. Cut the eggs 
in slices when used. 



PRESERVATION OF EGGS. 

According to Dr. Bennett, in his poultry book, noth- 
ing was known scientifically about preserving eggs till 
M. Reaumur was led to consider the subject. He 
has shown that fresh eggs lose daily, by transpiration, 
a portion of the matter they contain, notwithstanding 
the compact texture o£ their shell, and of the close 
tissue of the flexible membrane lining the shell and 
enveloping the white. When an egg is fresh, the shell 
is full; and this is equally discernible whether it be 
broken raw or cooked. In stale eggs there is a vacancy, 
more or less, in proportion to the loss sustained by 
transpiration. Hence, to judge of the freshness of 
an egg, it is usual to hold it up to the light, when the 
translucency of the shell will enable one to see whether 
there be any vacancy or not ; or whether the yolk and 



92 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

white are mingled and thick, by the decay and burst- 
ing of the membrane which surrounds them. 

Cold retards, while heat accelerates, this process of 
the transpiration in eggs. By keeping them in cool 
cellars or ice-houses, they can be preserved for a longer 
time, in a sound state, than if they are placed in a warm 
atmosphere or exposed to the sun's light. Some plan 
must be put in operation to exclude the air from the 
egg, to prevent fermentation and decay ;' and this can 
only be done by closing the pores of the shell. It is 
necessary that the material used for this purpose should 
not be dissolved by the moisture issuing from the inte- 
rior. Fat or grease answers well, and Dr. Bennett 
recommends a mixture of mutton and beef suet, melted 
together over a slow fire, and strained through linen 
into an earthen pan. When melted, dip in an egg, 
and immediately take it out ; it will keep for twelve 
months or longer. A few pounds of this fat would 
prepare a great quantity of eggs. Eggs prepared in 
this manner are good to boil ; while those " put down " 
in a mixture of lime, salt, and cream of tartar, are fit 
only for puddings and brown cakes — not for the table 
or white cake, as sponge, almond, &c. — and when 
taken from the water, the greasiness can be removed 
with a napkin. A thin layer of grease is all that is neces- 
sary. It should be known that eggs are spoiled by 
being moved roughly about, or jostled when carried to 
a distance by sea or land. Any sort of rough motion 
ruptures the membrane which keeps the yolk and white 
apart, and when mixed they become bad and putrefy. 
Without doubt, sooner or later, eggs will be sold by 
weight rather than by dozens. One dozen of eggs 
should weigh twenty-two and a half ounces, says Dr. 
Bennett. A dozen then may sometimes consist of 
eight, twelve, or even eighteen eggs. There will be 
fewer complaints that this or that receipt is good for 
nothing, when this plan is adopted. When the rich- 
ness of this or that cake depends on the number of 



VEGETABLES. 93 

eggs used, surely there can be no wonder that, if made 
with eight large or eight small eggs, there should be 
much difference in the result. Eggs, with yellow, ma- 
hogany, or salmon-colored shells, are richer than those 
with white ones. They contain a larger quantity of 
yolk. These are preferred for culinary purposes, for 
cakes, puddings, &c. White eggs contain more albu- 
men, and are preferred for boiling, &c, for the table. 
Many separate their eggs, accordingly, for eating and 
cooking ; and when the reason for this course is better 
understood, most persons will follow it. 



VEGETABLES. 

It is beautiful to see the simple means by which so 
many important ends are answered in nature. Every 
slight accession to our knowledge opens new wonders to 
us, even in those ordinary operations with which, during 
our whole lives, we have been most familiar. 

It may be useful to know the leading differences in 
chemical constitution which exist among the different 
kinds of vegetable food. 

The potato is characterized by containing a large 
proportion of starch in connection with a small quan- 
tity of albumen — a substance in vegetables resembling 
the boiled white of an egg, and from which it gets its 
name of vegetable albumen. 

The quantity of starch in potatoes increases during 
the autumn, remains stationary during winter, and in 
spring, after germination commences, diminishes. It 
is a well-known fact, that when potatoes germinate, 
they become soft and afterwards sweet. The gum 
formed from the starch renders them mucilaginous ; 
and the sugar formed from this gum renders them 
sweet. 

This is the reason why the potato should be sprouted, 
as often as it shows signs of germinating, during the 
winter season. 



94 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

The nutritive power of the potato is by some consid- 
ered very small, while others think that, when in good 
condition and well cooked, they form a nutritious and 
easily digested article of food. It is stated by Liebig, 
" that a horse may be kept alive by feeding it with po- 
tatoes ; but life thus supported is a gradual starvation ; 
the animal increases neither in size nor strength, and 
sinks under every exertion/' 

It should be remembered that, when the potatoes are 
grown where they are not supplied with earth, (in 
cellars,) a vegetable alkali, of very poisonous nature, is 
formed in the sprouts, although not the smallest trace of 
such a substance can be discovered in roots, blossoms, or 
fmits of potatoes grown in the field. Miss Edgeworth 
was mistaken in calling the potato ball poisonous. It 
is said that the water in which potatoes are boiled ex- 
tracts or destroys all noxious matter ; and, as both 
baked and roasted potatoes are wholesome, it follows 
that heat alone is capable of destroying the injurious 
principle of the potato, and if so, that the water in 
which they are boiled cannot be healthy. The sprouts 
should be carefully destroyed, and should never be 
given to any animal. Hard and waxy potatoes are 
less digestible than mealy ones ; and new potatoes, 
being less mealy, are less digestible than old ones. 

The influence of frost on the potato is purely me- 
chanical. It does not appear that any chemical change 
is produced, by freezing, on vegetables rich in starch. 
If they are allowed to thaw, and are used immedi- 
ately, before fermentation ensues, there will be no dif- 
ference found between the frosted and unfrosted root. 

The potato, eaten as a salad, raw with vinegar, or 
as ordinarily cooked, is a great preservative against the 
scurvy. 

The turnip and carrot contain, in place of starch, a 
variable proportion of sugar and a gelatinous, gummy 
substance to which the name oipectine has been given. 
A single drop of pectic acid, mixed with the juice of 



VEGETABLES. 95 

an' orange, or other fruit, immediately turns it into 
jelly ; and the Paris confectioners use it for this pur- 
pose. Soups, in which carrots have been boiled, are 
always gelatinous when cold, and are more easily 
digested, when used as food, than soups otherwise 
made. 

In the Swedish turnip and in the beet root, sugar 
t predominates. In the white turnip and in the carrot, 
the pectine is usually present in large quantities. The 
proportion of sugar contained in the sap of these roots 
is greatest when they are young. The turnip, though 
very slightly nutritive, is, in general, easily digested. 
The carrot and the parsnip are highly nutritive. 
Onions, leeks, and shallots, when well boiled, form 
mild and easily digestible aliments ; but, in the raw 
state, the volatile oil they contain renders them acrid 
and difficult to digest. 

Asparagus is a wholesome, agreeable, and simple 
kind of food. 

The green leaves and leafstalks of plants are much 
less suited for dyspeptic individuals than farinaceous 
matters. 

All vegetables, after being thoroughly washed, 
should be left in cool, fresh water, with the exception 
of peas, shelled beans, and sweet corn. These last 
should be husked and shelled with nice hands, and not 
washed, as some of the sweetness would be lost. Be 
careful and clean them from insects. Put all fresh, 
green vegetables into boiling water when to be cooked. 
Hard water is not fit to cook any vegetables in. Peas 
and beans, boiled in hard water, become incrusted with 
a thin coating of lime, which prevents the water from 
penetrating, so that they do not become soft. If you 
are obliged to use such water, put in a little saleratus 
to rectify this ; or boil the water first, by which course 
the lime will be precipitated ; or expose it for some 
time to the air before using it. All vegetables are nicer 
when fresh gathered. Peas should not be shelled long 



96 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

before boiling. When peas, string beans, or aspar- 
agus are old, a little saleratus in the water in which 
they are boiled will make them boil more tender and 
look greener. Greens, lettuce, and cucumbers should 
be gathered in the morning early, before the dew is 
dried off, and put into fresh water. All kinds of green 
vegetables are unfit to eat after they are withered. 
Dried peas and beans should not be put into boiling . 
water when to be cooked, but into cold water. 

The French pay great attention to the cooking of 
vegetables. Besides using them plain boiled, they 
make dishes of dressed vegetables, upon which they 
expend as much care and attention as upon the princi- 
pal dish of the dinner. In fact, they often make out a 
dinner from such dishes. 

" It would seem as if potatoes could freeze and thaw 
several times during winter, without being destroyed, 
provided they are covered with earth all the time, for 
they are often found near the surface and perfectly 
sound in the spring, when spading up the ground in 
which the crop had grown during the previous season. 
They must have undergone freezing and thawing 
whenever the earth was in either state, as it often is 
to a much greater depth than the potato roots ever ex- 
tend. Why should these roots always be destroyed 
when they freeze above ground, and not suffer when 
frozen under ground ? 

" The reason why potatoes, apples, &c, become soft 
and rot when they are frozen and thawed suddenly, 
uncovered and in open air, is the sudden thawing. 
You may put a heap of apples on the floor of a room, 
or any other dry place, where they will freeze perfectly 
hard, and, if covered closely with any thing that will 
exclude the air, when the weather becomes warm 
enough to thaw, the apples will remain sound and un- 
injured after they are thus closely thawed. 

" Apples may be packed in a tight barrel, if full and 
headed up so as to exclude the air. They may remain 



VEGETABLES. 



97 



so in a garret or any dry place where it freezes hard, and 
they will be found sound and free from injury, if the 
barrel remains air-tight till they are thoroughly thawed. 
If any frozen limb or finger is exposed to sudden heat, 
by warming it at the fire, and thus suddenly thawed, 
the flesh will mortify. But if you freeze your finger, 
and put it into snow and rub it gently till it thaws, or 
put it into a pail of cool water, it will thaw gently and 
suffer comparatively little injury. Onions are a diffi- 
cult root to keep in winter. If put into a cellar warm 
enough to save them from frost, they will vegetate and 
be deteriorated. Put them where they will freeze hard. 
If in a heap, cover them closely with some woollens or 
any thing which will entirely exclude the air. Cover 
them also if in barrels or casks. They will freeze hard, 
and they can be thawed out by putting them into a 
pail of cold water. Onions thus kept will be in good 
condition in the spring, after thawing under cover from 
the air, 

" Parsnips, carrots, and beets should be put into 
boxes or casks, and then covered with potatoes ; this 
will preserve them from drying." — Cultivator, Albany. 

It is not frost which destroys tender plants, as they 
do not wilt until exposed to the sun's rays. They 
must thaw gradually, like fruits and vegetables ; and, 
if protected in the early morning from the sun's rays, 
the tender plants can be made to blossom some days 
or weeks after the early frosts. After these frosts set 
in, those plants will continue to blow the longest on 
which the sun's rays fall latest in the day. If these 
rays strike suddenly upon the leaf or fruit, the surface 
will at once be raised in temperature some degrees. 
The air will consequently expand suddenly, and before 
the sap is thawed, will have distended and torn the air 
vessels, and caused sap and air to be mutually inter- 
mingled. 

" Though not in a state of growth, the tuber of the 
potato contains the living principle, and there must be 
9 



98 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

a circulation going on in it to maintain an equality of 
temperature throughout its substance. A sudden 
thawing of the exterior will, as in the leaf, expand the 
air before circulation can be established in the frozen 
mass. The solid, fluid, and aeriform substances, which 
nature has separated and set apart from each other, 
will be intermingled, and, from their mutual action, 
those chemical changes will be produced which will 
result in the potatoes' rotting." 

If a sudden frost comes on, protect the delicate flow- 
ers in the early morning from the sun, and cover with 
straw or earth the potatoes which have been left over 
night in the field. 

The practical application of these views are numer- 
ous ; it must be left to each person to make the use 
which his circumstances and condition require. 

Potatoes. No potato is so good boiled with the 
skin on, as without it, at any season of the year. 
They should always be pared and thrown immediately 
into cold water. When the potato is first peeled it 
has a white color, which soon changes to brown on 
exposure to the air. The potato will not injure if left all 
night in water ; perhaps it is even nicer, if allowed to re- 
main in water from four to six hours before cooking. 
Be sure the water boi/s when you put them into it. And 
also be careful that you put into it some salt, in pro- 
portion to the quantity of potatoes cooked. As soon 
as they are cooked tender, pour off all the water and 
shake them about in the kettle, exposed to the external 
air, for two or three minutes. You will then have a 
mealy, well-seasoned, good-tasting vegetable. Per- 
haps the potatoes will break up and not retain their 
shape, but this I conceive of little consequence in 
comparison with the delicacy of the potato obtained 
by this method. From thirty to forty minutes will be 
occupied in boiling. Potatoes will bake in a range 
oven or cooking stove in an hour. 

Mashed Potato. Prepare and cook them as above. 



POTATOES. 99 

When cooked, mash them with the pestle, either in the 
kettle, or take them out into a wooden tray. Mash 
them to a smooth paste. Have ready a gill or two of 
hot cream or milk ; if milk is used, add a large spoon- 
ful of butter and a very little salt. Stir this into the 
potato very thoroughly. You can simply warm it and 
serve it hot, or mould it into a large cake, the size and 
shape of your vegetable dish ; egg it, and sift over it 
finely-powdered cracker ; put it on a tin sheet, and set 
it in the oven to brown. Or, make it into little cakes 
the size of a potato, and brown them. 

If there are potatoes left from dinner, mash them ; 
add a little milk and a small piece of butter; mould 
them into little cakes, and fry them for breakfast. 

Potatoes boiled whole, and browned on the grid- 
iron, are by some people much esteemed. 

Fried Potatoes. Pare and slice them thin. If you 
have the fat from boiled ham, or that from frying 
sausages, in which to cook them, it will add a much 
better relish than if you used butter or other drippings. 
Cold boiled potatoes may be cooked in this manner; 
they should be sliced thicker. 

Sweet Potatoes may be roasted, boiled, or baked. 
They are drier and finer roasted in hot ashes ; next, 
baked, and sent to table with skins on. Boil them, 
pare them, and serve hot. 

Sweet Potatoes. These vegetables are much richer 
when cooked twice. Bake as many as you choose 
until quite soft, and peel them and put them again into 
the oven for one half hour. Serve them hot. This 
twice baking makes them more candied. You can 
peel them nicer when cold, so it is better to cook them 
early, or the day before wanted, and then finish with 
the second baking. 

Sweet Potatoes. Boil them till soft ; peel them, 
and rub them smooth with a little butter and a little 
salt. Bake in a pan, and turn out in a vegetable dish, 
or drop in spoonfuls over a tin sheet, and bake thern. 



100 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



Fried Sweet Potatoes. Cut them in slices after 
being parboiled, and fry in lard, or dip the slices in 
batter and fry them brown. 

Summer Squash. If the rind is tender, do not cut 
it off. Boil it in a bag, kept for this purpose. Use 
boiling water ; three quarters of an hour will cook it 
sufficiently. Take the bag out into a pan and press it 
with the bottom of a saucer or with a ladle, till all the 
water runs out. Put it into a dish ; add butter and salt ; 
smooth over the top ; then with a fork make rough 
lines from the edge to the centre. 

Winter Squash. Cut the squash in pieces; peel 
it, and take out the seeds, but do not remove the fringe, 
which is the sweetest part. Let your water boil before 
you put it in. It is better to put this into a bag, and 
allow the least possible quantity of water to keep it 
from burning. Squeeze it the same as above. Add 
butter and salt. Put it into your dish ; smooth the top 
and pepper it. 

Turnips require from one and a half to two hours 
to boil. Put them into salt and water to cook. Take 
them out into the colander ; drain them well ; mash 
them, adding a little salt and butter. They are some- 
times sent to table simply sliced. 

Carrots are not a very favorite vegetable for the 
table. They are used in broths and soups, but chiefly 
sent to table as a garnish, or an accompaniment to 
salt fish. In summer, about an hour will cook them. 
In winter, an hour and a half. 

Beets make a very good addition to a winter salad, 
of which they may agreeably form one half instead of 
being only used to ornament it. Boil the beet tender; 
be careful when washing them not to break the little 
fibres which are attached to the roots, as the juices and 
color will be lost. Beets boil tender in one to three 
hours, depending on the season of the year. When 
boiled, throw them into cold water for five minutes ; 
rub off the skin, and cut them lengthwise. All that 



VEGETABLES. 101 

are left from dinner should be put into vinegar, with a 
a little salt in it, to be eaten cold, as a pickle. 

Beets, dressed. Boil two good-sized beets tender ; 
when cold and peeled, cut in slanting direction so as 
to make oval pieces. Cut into small dice two middling- 
sized onions ; put them into a pan with two ounces of 
butter; fry white, stirring continually with a spoon; 
add a spoonful of flour, and enough milk to make a 
thickish sauce, adding, three salt-spoonfuls of salt, four 
of sugar, one of pepper, a spoonful of good vinegar, 
and boil together for a few minutes. Put in the beet 
slices to simmer for about twenty minutes. Have 
ready some mashed potatoes, with which make a neat 
border round your dish one inch high. Put in the 
beets and sauce, and serve hot. If you have a little 
broth, use it instead of milk. 

Salsify, or Oyster Plant. Wash and scrape the 
roots well, till quite white. Boil them one hour. Put 
them into a tray and wash them as potatoes*. Season 
with pepper and salt, or send them to table simply cut 
lengthwise as beets, pouring over them a little butter; 
or, after being nrashed, they may be made into cakes 
and fried in butter. 

Salsify, full dressed. After being boiled, dish 
them on toast ; pour over them some good onion sauce. 
Or, after being mashed, season with salt, pepper, a 
little vinegar, and a spoonful of butter or milk. Make 
this into little cakes. Make a small quantity of batter; 
dip each cake in, and fry for five minutes in lard or fat ; 
dish it up with fried parsley. 

Celery. Wash six heads, and strip off their outer 
leaves ; cither cut them in halves or leave them whole, 
according to their size. Cut into lengths of four inches. 
Stew them with a little broth or a little milk and salt, 
till tender ; add pepper and nutmeg. Some people eat 
the celery raw, as a salad. 

Egg Plant. The purple plant is considered the 
nicest. Pull the stem from the plant; parboil them 
9* 



102 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

and cut them in slices about an inch thick. Dip them 
in a batter or in an egg well beaten, and then in a 
pounded cracker seasoned with a little salt and pepper. 
Fry them of a nice brown color. 

Cauliflower. Choose those that are close and 
white. Cut off the green leaves, and look carefully 
about the stalk for caterpillars. Soak them an hour in 
cold salt and water. Boil them in milk and water ; 
and be careful to skim the saucepan, that not the least 
foulness may fall on the plant. 

Cauliflower, dressed. Parboil it; then cut it 
into handsome pieces, and lay them in a stewpan with 
a little broth, a bit of mace, a little salt and pepper. 
Simmer half an hour ; then put in a little cream, flour, 
and butter ; simmer it a few minutes, and serve hot. 

To dress Cauliflower with Cheese. Boil a cau- 
liflower ; drain it in your colander, and cut the stalk 
so that the flower will stand upright about two inches 
above the dish. Put this into a stewpan with a little 
cream or milk, salt, butter, and flour; stew it a few 
minutes ; then dish it with the sauce round it, and put 
Parmesan cheese, grated, over it ; brown it in the oven, 
or heat a kitchen shovel and hold over it. Any other 
rich cheese will answer very well. 

Broccoli. Cut the heads with short stalks, and pare 
off the tough skin ; tie the small shoots into bunches, 
and boil them a shorter time than the heads ; put salt 
into the water. Served with or without toast. 

Cabbage. Remove the outer leaves, and divide the 
stump end as far as the centre of the cabbage ; put it 
into boiling water with some salt to boil; skim it, 
and boil a full hour. It can be cooked with boiled 
meat. 

Cabbage, dressed. Shred the cabbage ; wash it 
well ; put it over the fire with a few slices of onion, 
pepper, and salt, and a very little water or broth. 
When tender, or a few minutes before serving, add a 
little butter rubbed in flour, and two or threr nconfuls 
of vinegar; just boil it up. 



VEGETABLES. 103 

To make Sourkrout, or Sauerkraut. This is pre- 
pared by the fermentation of cabbage. The plants are 
collected in autumn, divided, the stalks removed, and 
the leaves cut by a cabbage-slice into slices, a layer of 
which is put into a firkin, alternately with a layer of 
salt, until the vessel is filled ; pressed down with heavy 
weights. At the end of six weeks, when the acetous 
fermentation is completed, it is considered fit for use. 
It is cooked in Germany as a stew, simply in its own 
liquor, with bacon, pork, or other fat meat. Caraway 
seeds or dill are sometimes sprinkled on the plants 
when they are salted. 

Asparagus. Scrape or peel off the tough skin from 
the white part ; tie it up in small bunches ; put it into 
boiling water ; boil twenty minutes ; dish it on slices 
of buttered toast; pour over a little drawn butter. 
The bread, toasted brown, may be dipped into the 
water in which the asparagus was boiled. 

Asparagus, dressed. Parboil the plants. When 
cooked, cut them into small pieces and fry in butter ; 
or break three or four eggs into a dish ; beat them 
with pepper, salt, and a little milk ; add the asparagus ; 
put this into a stew pan, with a spoonful of butter; 
simmer it for a few minutes. Serve this on toasted 
bread. 

Sea Kale. Proceed exactly as for asparagus for 
boiling. Cut out the black part of the roots ; wash 
it well, and tie it together. Serve it as asparagus. 

Parsnips. Boil them an hour and a half; serve 
them hot, simply cut lengthwise ; or mash them and 
warm them in a stewpan, with a little milk and but- 
ter, pepper and salt. 

Spinach requires great care in washing and picking 
it. When ready, throw it into boiling water with a 
little salt. Drain it very dry in a colander, and heat 
the spinach well with a bit of butter. This looks well 
if pressed in to a tin mould in the form of a large leaf. 

Spinach, full dressed. Drop four or five eggs into 



104 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

boiling water ; dish the spinach, putting the eggs on 
to it. 

Mushrooms. One should feel perfectly acquainted 
with the different sorts of fungi before using any. 
Many are called mushrooms, by ignorant people, 
which are highly deleterious. The death of many 
persons has been occasioned by carelessly using the 
poisonous kinds. 

The eatable mushroom first appears very small and 
of a round form, (buttons,) on a little stalk. They 
grow very fast; the upper part and stalk are white. 
As the size increases, the under part gradually opens, 
and shows a fringed fur of a very fine salmon color, 
which continues more or less till the mushrooms have 
gained some size, and then turns a dark brown. These 
marks should be attended to, and also whether the 
skin will peel easily from the edges and middle. 
Those that have a white or yellow fur should be care- 
fully avoided ; though many of them have the same 
smell, but not so strong as the right kind. Mush- 
rooms, common morels, and the truffle are certainly 
difficult of digestion, and, on certain constitutions, act 
very injuriously. Invalids, and all with delicate stom- 
achs, will act prudently in avoiding the use of this 
doubtful order of foods. 

Mushrooms, stewed. Cut off the stalk which grew 
in the earth ; wash them ; remove the skin from the 
top ; stew them with a little water and salt. When 
tender, add a piece of butter braided in flour. They 
are very delicious. 

Peas, boiled. Pick them well over, after they are 
shelled ; do not wash them ; put them into boiling 
water, adding a little salt, for about fifteen minutes ; 
drain them through a colander ; put them into a dish 
with a little butter. As peas grow old, boil them 
longer. They may be garnished with scalded mint. 

Peas. Put a quart of peas, a head of lettuce, and 
an onion, sliced, with butter, pepper, and salt, and no 



VEGETABLES. 105 

more water than hangs round the lettuce in washing. 
Stew them two hours. When ready to be served, beat 
up an egg and stir it into them. Mint can be chopped 
and stewed with them. 

Shelled Beans. Put these into boiling water, just 
enough to cover them ; boil them for an hour to an 
hour and a quarter. Add salt when nearly cooked. 
Serve them hot with a little butter. 

String Beans. Beans should never be used in this 
way after the pod has become old enough to have a 
string or toughness about it. Cut off both ends, and 
cut them in pieces of an inch long. Boil them in as 
little water as will keep them from burning. Put into 
them a little butter. 

Onions. Peel large onions; put them into boiling 
water and salt ; boil them about thirty minutes. Pour 
off the water, then put in equal parts of milk and 
water, or skimmed milk alone, and boil for twenty 
minutes. Take them up with a skimmer; let them 
drain and dish them. Put on them a little butter, 
pepper, and salt. 

Greens. Turnip tops, mustard, and cabbage plants, 
the roots and tops of young beets, dandelions, and 
many other things make a good dish of greens in the 
spring. When boiled enough, they will sink to the 
bottom. Some take an hour, others less time, to boil 
tender. 

Cucumbers should be gathered early in the morning. 
Peel them, and pour scalding water over them. Let 
them stand till nearly time to serve. Slice them, add- 
ing salt, pepper, and vinegar. 

Stewed Cucumbers. Slice them thick ; strew some 
salt and pepper over them ; add an onion, sliced ; stew 
these in a little water with a bit of butter; simmer 
slowly ; put in a little flour. Add a spoonful of vine- 
gar when served. 

Tomatoes, baked. Pour boiling water over them ; 
cover them, and let them stay one hour; peel them; 



106 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

put in as many as will cover the bottom of a pie dish ; 
season with pepper and salt; sprinkle bread crams 
over them, with a few pieces of butter. Then more 
tomatoes, with seasoning, &c, alternately, until the 
dish is filled. Bake them one hour. 

Tomatoes. Peel them ; cut them ; put them into a 
saucepan ; shake in pepper, salt, and butter ; a few 
bread crams. If you please, add sugar. Stew two 
hours. 

Tomatoes, raw. Slice the fruit ; dress them with 
pepper, salt, and vinegar. 

Sweet Corn. Corn for boiling should be full grown, 
but young and tender, and the kernels soft and milky. 
If the grains are yellow and hard, it is too old. Pull 
off the silk and boil the corn, without removing the 
inner husk that encloses the cob. It will take rather 
longer to boil, but it is sweeter and will look whiter. 
Remove these before you send it to table. Put the 
corn into a very little boiling water with salt in it. 
Cover up tight, and the steam will cook it. When 
done, serve it hot in a napkin. Eaten with butter and 
salt. It can be cut from the cobs before being sent to 
table, and mixed with a little butter. 

Corn Oysters. Grate the corn from the cobs and 
dredge it with wheat flour. Beat very light six eggs, 
and mix them with the corn. Beat them well together. 
Add a salt-spoon of salt. Fry these in lard or butter 
in rouud or oval cakes, about an inch thick. Or, boil 
the corn and cut it from the cobs ; chop it fine, and 
mix as above. 

Summer Succotash. Boil a peck of young green 
beans, having cut them into three pieces, for about 
thirty minutes. Drain them in a colander. Boil six 
or eight ears of corn, and when cooked, cut the grains 
from the cob. Mix together the corn and beans, add- 
ing a little salt, and warm them together a few min- 
utes. Drain the succotash in a sieve ; add butter, and 
serve hot. 



VEGETABLES. 107 

Hominy must be washed and boiled. Allow two 
quarts of water to each quart of hominy. Drain it 
well. Send it to table in a deep dish uncovered. Put 
in a little butter. 

Samp is Indian corn boiled in lye, or with potash, 
to remove the husks ; then boiled in plain water till 
tender. 

Beans, baked. Put a quart of beans to soak over 
night. The next morning wash them out of this water. 
Put them into a pot with more cold water than will 
cover them ; add a little salt. Put them over the fire 
to simmer until tender. Drain them again, and put 
them into a deep earthen pot. Scald and gash one and 
a half pounds of salt pork ; place it in the beans so that 
the rind of the pork will be even with the top of the 
beans ; cover them with water in which is mixed two 
table-spoonfuls of molasses. Bake them five or six 
hours. If in a brick oven, let them stand over night. 
Some people put in a little saleratus when the beans 
are boiling. 

Macaroni. Have half a gallon of water ; two 
ounces of butter, and an ounce of salt; when boiling, 
throw in a pound of macaroni ; boil until tender. The 
time of boiling depends on the quality. The Genoa 
macaroni takes the longest time, and the Neapolitan 
the shortest; which last, if too much cooked, will fall 
in pieces. 

Macaroni d Vltalienne. Boil half a pound of mac- 
aroni as above. When done, dry it on a sieve ; put 
it in a pan with four spoonfuls of milk ; add a tea- 
spoonful of salt, a quarter of one of pepper, a little 
cayenne ; simmer it over the fire. "When boiling, 
add two ounces of Parmesan cheese, grated. Stir it 
round till mixed. Serve it hot, with a gill of gravy 
round it. 

Macaroni. Boil the macaroni tender ; when cooked, 
put a layer of macaroni into a well-greased dish, a 
layer of grated or shaved cheese, a few pieces of butter, 



108 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

and so continue until the dish is filled. Set it into your 
oven to brown. 

An excellent cold Stew. Take a nice fresh 
white cabbage, wash and drain it, and cut off the stalk. 
Shave down the head evenly and nicely into very small 
shreds, with a cabbage-cutter or knife. Put it into a 
deep dish, and prepare for it the following dressing : 
Take a gill or half a tumbler of the best vinegar, mix 
with it a quarter of a pound of butter divided into 
four bits and rolled in flour, a small salt-spoon of salt, 
and the same quantity of cayenne pepper. Stir this 
together and boil it in a saucepan. Have ready beaten 
the yolks of three eggs. As soon as the mixture boils, 
take it from the fire and stir in the eggs. Then pour 
it boiling hot over the shred cabbage, and mix it well 
with a spoon. Set it to cool on ice or snow, or in the 
open air. It must be thoroughly cold before it is served. 

Potatoes, a la Mailre cP Hotel. A good breakfast 
dish. Boil the potatoes, and when cold cut them into 
rather thin slices. Put a lump of fresh butter into a 
stewpan, adding a little flour, about a tea-spoonful for 
a middling-sized dish ; when the flour has thickened 
with the butter, add by degrees a cup of broth or water. 
Boil this up and put in the potatoes with chopped 
parsley, pepper, and salt. Stew them a few minutes, 
remove them from the fire, and when quite off the boil, 
add the yolk of an egg beaten up with a little lemon 
juice and a table-spoonful of cold water. As soon as 
the sauce has set, the potatoes may be dished and sent 
to table. A London recipe, and very delicious. 

A Substitute for Asparagus. The young stalks 
of the milkweed, which grows by the roadside, if cut 
when about as high as asparagus would be, and boiled 
like it, and served with toast, in the same manner, 
makes a delicious substitute for asparagus. It is ex- 
ceedingly delicate, and tastes like string beans. The 
plant will shoot up like asparagus after being cut. 



CONDIMENTS, OR SEASONING AGENTS. 109 



CONDIMENTS, OR SEASONING AGENTS. 

The name of condiment is usually given to those 
substances which are taken with foods for the immedi- 
ate purpose of improving their flavor. But most of 
them serve other and much more important purposes 
in the animal economy than that of gratifying the 
palate. Most of them are, in fact, alimentary sub- 
stances ; as salt, sugar, oil or fat, and vegetable acids. 

But all the substances used as condiments are not 
necessary to our existence. This is the case with the 
aromatic and pungent condiments. The purpose which 
these substances serve in the animal economy is not 
very obvious ; they probably act as stimulants, and, in 
some cases, they may answer to correct the injurious 
qualities of the food with which they are eaten. 

Saline Condiments. Common salt is considered by 
most persons as a mere luxury, as if its use were 
merely to gratify the taste ; although it is essential to 
health and life, and is as much an aliment or food as 
either bread or flesh. It is a constituent of most of 
our food and drinks, and nature has kindly furnished us 
with an appetite for it. In many cases of disordered 
stomach, a tea-spoonful of salt is a certain cure. In 
the violent, internal pain, termed colic, a tea-spoon- 
ful of salt, dissolved in a pint of cold water, taken as 
soon as possible, with a short nap immediately after, 
is one of the most effectual and speedy remedies 
known. The same will relieve a person who seems 
almost dead from receiving a heavy fall. In an apo- 
plectic fit, no time should be lost in pouring down salt 
water, if sufficient sensibility remains to allow of swal- 
lowing ; if not, the head must be sponged with cold 
water until the sense returns, when the salt will restore 
the patient from lethargy. In cases of severe bleeding 
at the lungs, and when other remedies have failed, Dr. 
10 



110 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Rush, of Philadelphia, found that two tea-spoonfuls 
of salt completely stayed the blood. 

Acidulous Condiments. Vinegar, either by acci- 
dent or design, has been employed by mankind in all 
ages, in greater or less quantity, as an aliment, or rather 
substances naturally containing it in small quantities 
have been employed as food, or it has been artificially 
formed, to be used and eaten. It is necessary^ in one 
or other form, for the preservation of health. The pro- 
longed absence from juicy vegetables or fruits, or their 
preserved juices, is a cause of scurvy. Vinegar is used 
as a condiment on account of its agreeable flavor and 
refreshing odor. It is employed alone or with pickles. 
When taken in small quantities, it is wholesome ; but, 
of course, if immoderately used, it will cause trouble. 
Citric acid is employed, as a substitute for lemon and 
lime juice, in the preparation of cooling and refreshing 
beverages. Tartaric acid is employed as a cheap substi- 
tute for citric acid or lemon juice. Besides being cheap- 
er, it has another advantage over citric acid ; it is not 
deliquescent (or does not contract moisture) when ex- 
posed to the air. Cream of tartar is used in making 
cooling drinks. There are other acids, contained in 
fruits and vegetables, which are constantly employed 
and necessarily eaten by all. 

Oily Condiments are. oils derived from the seeds 
of fruit called vegetable oils. They are used raw, as 
in almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, cocoa-nuts, and nutmeg, 
and other fruits. They are also pressed, as olive oil 
or sweet oil, oil of almonds, and many volatile, or 
essential oils. The sweet or savory herbs, such as 
mint, marjoram, sage. &c, owe their peculiar flavor and 
odor to volatile oil contained in the leaves. In fact, 
all fruits and leaves, and some vegetables, as onions, 
garlic, with the spices, owe their grateful odor and taste 
to volatile oil. These oils, prepared, sold, and dissolved 
in spirit of wine, form the essences for flavoring, &c. 

Saccharine Condiments. Sugar is usually regarded 



CONDIMENTS, OR SEASONING AGENTS. Ill 

as a nutritious substance, but Liebig declares it is 
merely an element of respiration. Many insects feed 
on sugar or saccharine liquids. It is said that during 
the sugar season, at the West India islands, every ne- 
gro and every animal, even the dogs, grow fat. The 
fondness of children for sugar seems a natural instinct, 
since nature, by placing it in their milk, intended it to 
form a part of their nourishment. It is said that the 
eating of sugar spoils the color of, and corrupts, the 
teeth. This is a mistake. It is not the sweet itself, 
but the sweet, allowed to remain about the teeth, and 
becoming acid, which produces the trouble. Sugar is 
extensively used to prevent the decomposition of fruits, 
roots, and even stems and leaves, as in preserves. In 
these cases, sugar acts by excluding air, or by absorb- 
ing moisture, or both together. Its efficacy is some- 
times of another kind, as when it assists in making 
jellies solid. Latterly, sugar has been employed to 
preserve meat and fish, instead of salt. 

Aromatic and Pungent Condiments I have spoken 
of in the volatile and essential oils. 

For eating or cooking, Almonds should be blanched, 
on account of the injurious qualities of the husk. 

Bitter Almonds are more or less poisonous to all 
animals. Dogs, pigeons, &c, are readily destroyed by 
eating these nuts. When eaten in large quantities, 
bitter almonds have caused fatal consequences. The 
oil of bitter almonds is a very powerful poison, being 
four times as powerful as prussic acid. A single drop 
will kill a cat in a few minutes. From this fact it is 
highly improper for ignorant persons to employ it, yet 
it is extensively used by cooks and confectioners for 
flavoring. 

Butter is employed as a condiment. When rancid 
by keeping, or when melted by heat, it is injurious to 
the dyspeptic. 

It should be generally known, that a small quantity 
of Vinegar will generally destroy immediately any 



112 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

insect that may find its way into the stomach, and a 
little Salad Oil will kill any insect that may enter the 
ear. 

Mustard* Mix the best flour of mustard with boil- 
ing water, to a proper thickness, rubbing it perfectly 
smooth ; add a little salt, with a tea-spoonful of sugar, 
to a half pint of mustard. Instead of water, milk 
may be used, adding a little cream. This makes the 
mustard less biting and more delicate. It will keep 
well so mixed. 

The mustard may be mixed and kept covered in a 
jar, and only so much as is daily used put into the 
glass belonging to the castors. Nothing looks worst' 
than an ill-kept castor. 

Kitchen Pepper Sauce. Mix in a fine powder 
one ounce of ginger; of cinnamon, black pepper, nut- 
meg, and Jamaica pepper, half an ounce each ; ten 
cloves and six ounces of salt. Keep it in a bottle. It 
is a pleasant addition to any brown sauces or soups. 



RIPENING FRUITS. 

Many persons are in the habit of plucking fruit 
before it is ripe, to perfect itself in the house. If the 
ripening oi' fruits by nature were fully understood, or if 
the chemical changes which take place, between the 
opening of the flower and the ripening of fruit or seed, 
were more fully comprehended, few, I think, would 
prefer this method. The fruit, in which the seeds of 
many plants are enveloped, is at first tasteless, after- 
wards more or less sour, and finally sweet. In the first 
stage of the plant's growth, the starch of the seed is 
transformed into gum and sugar: and subsequently, in 
the last stages of existence, the sugar and the sweet 
and milky sap are gradually transformed into starch 
in the formation of the seeds. Chemists can explain 
the mode and manner by which the first transition is 



RIPENING FRUITS. 113 

effected ; the latter, however, is inexplicable. They 
can transform starch into sugar, and therefore we can 
readily believe in such a process going on in the plant; 
thus far, however, no method of reconverting sugar 
into starch has been discovered. It is said that nitrogen 
is given off by the flower leaf. It is known that this 
element is present in the coloring matter of the petals, 
and that it is a necessary constituent of the albumen 
and gluten, which are always associated with the 
starch of the seed. The fruit absorbs carbonic acid, 
and gives off oxygen, and thus extracts from the 
atmosphere a portion of the food, by which its growth 
is promoted ; and if, as they become colored, fruits 
imitate the petals of flowers, in absorbing oxygen and 
giving off carbonic acid and nitrogen, it will also rep- 
resent the changes which take place when fruits are 
permitted to ripen on the tree or in the open air. Light 
is absolutely necessary to the health of all plants and 
fruits, in growing and ripening. When plants are shut 
out from light, they are " blanched," as it is termed. 
It has the same effect as a continued night would have 
upon them. The purposes of the leaf are entirely 
different, according as the sun is above or below the 
horizon. The leaf becomes green, and oxygen is given 
off in the presence of the sun, while, in his absence, 
carbonic acid is disengaged, and the whole plant or 
fruit is blanched. There can be little doubt that the 
juices of fruits are matured by the influences of the 
solar rays and the atmosphere. The chemical changes 
by which the high flavor is gradually produced depend 
upon these influences. It has been proved that fruit 
cannot ripen, if placed in an atmosphere deprived of 
oxygen. All fruits are at first insipid and woody — 
very like to the leaf and woody fibre in their substance. 
In this state, they absorb carbonic acid largely, like 
the leaves, and thence derive much of their nourish- 
ment. As they increase in size, they absorb oxygen, 
and grow acid. At last, the harsh flavor gives place 
10* 



114 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

to a sweet and agreeable taste, from the formation of 
sugar and the disappearance of the chief portion of 
the acid and woody fibre. Now it may be that this 
last process requires nothing but the internal energies 
of the fruit, acting upon the materials it has stored up 
within. If so, removal from the air may not prevent 
the operation ; possibly it may simply retard it. If 
this be the case, fruits may perhaps be kept longer by 
plucking before fully ripe. We know, however, that 
fruits growing on the shady side of the tree, or in close 
and shaded situations, are of far inferior sweetness and 
delicacy of flavor. They retain somewhat of the woody 
character and the sour taste, showing plainly that the 
last or ripening process is more or less imperfect. It 
would seem probable, therefore, that we shall impair 
the richness and delicacy, as well as healthfulness, of 
fruit, by plucking it any considerable time before its 
point of perfection. It is likely, too, that we may 
retard its decay, without serious injury to its quality, 
by taking it from the tree just before it becomes mel- 
low. It is evident that such is the case with regard to 
those called winter fruits, that never become mellow 
until after winter has set in. 



BAKED AND STEWED FRUITS. 

Baked Sweet Apples. Wash well the apples ; 
place them in a pan with a very little water, that the 
juice may not burn ; if they are to be cooked in a 
brick oven, then put the apples in a jar ; cover them 
close, and bake them five or six hours. Sweet apples 
should be baked long after they are tender. 

Baked Sour Appi.es. Wash well the apples ; place 
them in a pan ; pour in a tea-cupful of water and one 
of sugar; bake them slowly till done. Eat them with 
cream and the juice which cooks from them. 

Baked Pears. Pare them, and put them into a jar. 



PRESERVES. 115 

To a dozen pears allow a cup of sugar. Set them in 
a brick oven, well covered, for five or six hours. They 
will be of a fine red color. 

Coddled Apples. Take windfalls, or fall apples ; 
wash them, and put half a peck into a preserving ket- 
tle ; add a half of a cup of water, sweetened with a 
large cup of sugar, or half a cup of molasses. Cover 
them, and boil gently until tender. 

Some persons like pears boiled with corned meat, to 
be eaten with it. 

Stewed Pears. Pare, halve, or quarter any large 
winter pears ; throw them into cold water as you pare 
them, to prevent them from turning black ; put them 
into a stewpan, and sprinkle as much sugar as will 
make them pretty sweet ; add lemon peel, a clove or 
two ; just cover them with water. Cover them, and 
stew three or four hours. 

To stew Dried Apples. Wash them in two or 
three waters, and put them to soak in rather more 
water than will cover them. After soaking an hour or 
two, put them with the same water into a preserving 
kettle, with some lemons, cut up. Boil them till tender, 
and when the apples rise up, press them down with a 
spoon, but do not stir them. Add sugar when they 
are tender, and boil for twenty minutes longer. Stir 
in a piece of butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, or clove, to 
your taste. 

PRESERVES. 

A kettle should be kept on purpose to preserve in. 
Iron ware, lined with porcelain, is better than any. 
Brass will do, but if not very bright, and if any thing, 
acid is allowed to stand in it any time, it becomes 
covered with verdigris, and is poisonous. Bell metal 
is better than brass. 

The art of making nice preserves, and such as will 
keep, consists in the preparation of the sirup. All 



116 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

sugars are better for being clarified, and for brown 
sugar this is absolutely necessary. It is said that there 
are mineral substances used in the process of making 
crushed sugars which injure the flavor of preserves ; 
therefore, the loaf sugar is the best, and in the end will 
be found to be the most economical. Raw sugars may 
be clarified with charcoal or a little lime, or any other 
alkali, which will prevent them from absorbing moist- 
ure and neutralize the acid which all raw sugars con- 
tain, and which prevents them from keeping. The sirup 
should be strained through flannel when thus clarified. 

The best refined loaf sugar should be white, dry, fine, 
and of a brilliant, sparkling appearance when broken, 
and as close in texture as possible. The best sort of 
brown sugar has a bright, sparkling, and gravelly look. 
East India sugars are finer and better refined, though 
they do not contain so much saccharine matter as 
some others. Russia loaf sugar is by far the nicest, and 
the Philadelphia crushed sugar is said to be the sweetest. 

Preserves should be boiled very gently. This is 
necessary, lest the sirup should burn, and to allow the 
sugar to penetrate thoroughly the fruit. 

It is the boiling of sugar which more or less consti- 
tutes the chief art of the confectioner ; and those who 
are not practised in this knowledge, and only preserve 
in a simple way for family use, are not aware that in 
two or three minutes a sirup over the fire will pass 
from one gradation to another, called by confectioners 
"degrees of boiling," of which there are seven, and 
these subdivided. I am not versed in these minutiae, 
and only make the remark to guard against under- 
boiling, which prevents sweetmeats from keeping ; and 
quick and long boiling, which brings them to candy. 
Jellies of fruit, made with equal quantity of sugar, a 
pound to a pint, require no very long boiling. 

Preserves keep best in glass jars. You can also 
readily see when fermentation commences, without 
opening them. 



PRESERVES. 117 

When preserves are cold, cover them close, and if 
not to be used for some time, paste paper over the top. 
When opened, if a thick, leathery-looking mould cov- 
ers them they need no attention ; but if speckled with 
mould, taste them, and if injured, remove these specks, 
and put the jar into cold water over the fire and boil it, 
skimming it well. If they do not taste acid, let them 
stand a while, but do not forget to look at them soon. 
The specks may be but the mould commencing, which 
is not of any moment. 

The juice of fruits, by prolonged boiling, often loses 
its power of gelatinizing, as the matter which forms 
the jelly has been coagulated or destroyed. The vege- 
table acid of the juice, under the influence of heat, is 
converted into an acid which is very soluble in water, 
and does not possess the property of becoming jelly. 
Glass is best to put jellies into. When they are cold, 
papers the size of the opening of the vessel should be 
clipped in brandy and laid over the top, and a cloth then 
tied carefuljy on the whole. Be careful that no tinned 
article is used in preserving red fruits, as the acid will 
act on the tin, and the color of the sirup will be 
changed to a bluish tint. 

When a flannel bag is used to strain sirup, or in fact 
when any strainer is used, it should be wrung out very 
dry, in hot water ; this prevents a wasting of the arti- 
cle strained, as the dry flannel must be saturated before 
any liquid will pass through it. 

To clarify Sugar. Break as much sugar as you 
require into small lumps, and put a pound to every 
pint of water. Put it over the fire, with the beaten 
white of an egg and a little charcoal, if brown sugar is 
used. Let it boil up, and when ready to boil over, pour 
in a very little cold water to check it. When it rises 
a second time, take it off the fire and set it aside for 
a quarter of an hour, during which time the impurities 
will settle and leave a scum on the top. Remove this 
gently, and pour off the sirup so carefully that you do 
not disturb the sediment. 



118 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

To candy any Sort of Fruit. When finished in 
the sirup, put a layer into a sieve, and dip it suddenly 
in hot water to take oif all the sirup that hangs about 
it. Sift over some sugar on all sides till quite white. 
Bet in on the shallow side of a sieve in a warm oven, 
and turn it two or three times. It must not be cold 
until dry. 

To preserve Quinces. The orange quince is the 
best to preserve. Peal and core the quinces ; weigh 
them ; put a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Boil 
the quinces very tender in water. When all are cooked, 
make a sirup of the water and sugar; then put in as 
many of the quinces as the sirup will cover, and let 
them boil about thirty minutes. Take them out to 
cool on a Hat dish and put in more, until all are boiled. 
Then boil up the sirup again, and strain it hot over the 
quinces in a jar. If you wish to increase the quantity, 
without additional expense, have as many sweet apples 
cored, quartered, and pared as will weigh one third as 
much as the quince. When the quince is done, put in 
the apples and boil them soft. Put quince and apples 
into the jar alternately. The flavor of the quince will 
penetrate the apple. 

Quince Marmalade. Pick out the poorest of the 
quinces ; pare, core, and boil them in as little water as 
will cover them. When soft, take them out. W'eigh 
them before boiling, and put a pound of sugar to a 
pound of fruit. Mash up the fruit, and boil the fruit 
and susrar together ; then strain through a coarse sieve, 
and put it up in small jars. 

Quince Jelly. Prepare quinces as above ; cut them 
in small pieces, and boil them in water with the seeds, 
cores, and parings, about one hour. Strain through a 
sieve ; measure a pint of juice to a pound of sugar ; 
boil these together about twenty minutes, and strain 
into moulds. The quinces strained out will make good 
marmalade with the addition of sugar. 

To preserve Peaches. Use a pound of sugar to a 



PRESERVES. 119 

pound of fruit. Pure the peaches and strew the sugar 
over them, and let them stand over night. The next 
day pour off the juice and clarify it, and boil the 
peaches in it till tender. Take them out to cool, then 
put them into jars and pour the hot sirup over them. 
Let them remain two or three days, and if the sirup 
has become thin on the top, boil them up again, and 
put into jars when cold. 

Peaches. Weigh to a pound of peaches a pound 
of sugar; put the fruit into a kettle, and pour over 
them boiling water to cover them, and let them boil 
fifteen or twenty minutes. Take them out to cool, 
and skin them; be careful to preserve the shape of the 
peaches. Take a little of the water that they were 
boiled in, add the sugar, and let it boil until it becomes 
a sirup. Preserve but few at a time. When done, 
put them on a dish to cool ; lay them carefully into 
a jar ; boil the sirup a few minutes after the peaches 
arc cooked, and strain it hot over them. 

Brandy Peaches. Prepare them as above, except- 
ing the sugar ; take three quarters of a pound of su- 
gar to one pound of peaches. When cooked, allow a 
quart of white brandy to a quart of sirup. Put the 
peaches hot into cold brandy, and when they are cold, 
put them into the jar; strain the sirup hot upon the 
peaches and brandy. 

Orange Marmalade. Skin the oranges very thin, 
and cut out the pulp, and boil the rinds very tender, 
and mash them fine. Boil three pounds of loaf sugar 
in a pint of water ; skim it, and add one pound of 
rind. Boil it until the sirup is thick, stirring it care- 
fully ; then put in one pint of the pulp and juice, re- 
moving the seeds, and one pint of apple liquor; boil 
all gently until jellied, which will be in one half hour. 
The celebrated orange or Scotch marmalade is pre- 
pared with Seville oranges and sugar, with apple 
liquor, and sometimes a little balsam of Tolu is 
added for flavoring. 



120 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Lemon Marmalade is made in the same way. 

To preserve Citron Melon. Pare and slice the 
melons ; boil them in weak alum water until trans- 
parent, and then soak twelve hours in water. Make a 
sirup, allowing one pound of sugar to one pound of 
fruit; stew it moderately for two hours; add three 
lemons, sliced, to a large melon, with some ginger 
root or some preserved ginger if you please. 

Damson. A pound of sugar to a pound of fruit ; 
make a sirup; put in the plums, and boil thirty 
minutes. Let them cool; then put them into jars. 
Boil the sirup after you take out the plums, and pour 
it. boiling hot over them. 

Green (.ages and Wgg Plums are preserved in the 
same way. The egg plum must be pierced with a 
Large needle, io prevent it from bursting. 

Crab Apple. Leave the stems on. A pound of 
sugar to a pound of fruit. Pierce the apples ; make a 
sirup; put in the apples, and boil them forty minutes. 
Take them out carefully; when cold, put them into 
jars; having boiled the sirup, pour boiling hot over 
them. 

Apple Jelly. Take a dozen good apples, peel and 
iiii them into quarters; add a pint of water, and let 
them simmer one half hour. Strain the liquOr oil' 
from the apple; let it settle, and add a pint of juiee 
to a pound of sugar; boil ten minutes, and strain into 
moulds or jars. " 

Raspberry Jam. A pound of fruit to a pound of 
jelly. Put a layer of fruit, then a layer of sugar into 
a wooden or China vessel till all the sugar and fruit, 
are used up. Let this stand over night. In the morn- 
ing put it into a kettle, and boil it gently one hour, stir- 
ring it often. Put it into jars, and in four or five days 
look at it; and if the sirup rises at the top, boil it one 
halt" hour longer. 

Raspberry, or Blackberry Jelly. Stew the fruit; 
strain it through a sieve, and to a pound of sugar put 



PRESERVES. 121 

a pint of juice; boil it thirty minutes, then strain it 
through a sieve or bag. Let it stand three days, then 
cover it. 

Currant Jelly. The currants should be ripe and 
.fresh picked. Stew them in a very little water, just 
enough to prevent them from burning. Let them stew 
till tender ; strain them ; put a pint of juice to a pound 
of sugar, and boil thirty minutes. Take a spoonful 
out in a plate, and set it on ice ; if it is done, it will 
stiffen in five minutes. Strain it through a fine sieve 
into small jars; place them in the sun two days. Put 
a piece of paper, wet in brandy, on the top, and tie 
them up. The currants may be put into a pitcher, 
and the pitcher into hot water, to extract the juice. 
In this case, put no water with the currants. Bar- 
berries mixed with the currants make a richer flavored 
jelly than currants alone. 

Apple Jelly. Half a peck of apples, pared, cored, 
and stewed in two quarts of new cider; strain the 
liquor from the apples, adding or not the juice of a 
lemon. Add one and a half pounds of sugar, and then 
boil from twenty to thirty minutes. The pulp may 
be sweetened for apple sauce. 

Cranberry Jelly. One quart of cranberries ; one 
pint sugar; one half pint water; let these simmer to- 
gether about one half hour. Strain it through a sieve, 
and the cranberries make a good sauce. 

Blackberry Sirup. To two quarts of juice of 
blackberries add one pound of sugar ; one half ounce 
nutmegs ; one half ounce cinnamon, pulverized ; one 
fourth ounce allspice. Boil all together for a short 
lime; when cold, add a pint of good brandy. From 
a tea-spoonful to a wine glass, according to the age of 
patient, to be given in the summer complaint. 

Barberries. Allow two pounds of sugar to three 
quarts of berries. 

Pine Apple. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and 
sugar ; slice the apple, and strew the sugar over each 
11 



122 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

slice, and let it stand over night. In the morning, take 
out the apple, and boil the sirup. When it boils, put 
in the apple, and boil till tender, or from fifteen to 
twenty minutes. Remove the apple, and boil the 
sirup ten minutes, skimming it well. Pour it hot over 
the apples. Strawberry jam is made as raspberry 
jam. 

Grape Jam. Stew grapes till soft, and strain through 
a sieve. Weigh the fruit, and add a pound of sugar 
to a pound of fruit. Boil twenty minutes together, 
stirring it often. 

To preserve Pine Apple without boiling. Choose 
large, well-ripened fruit ; pare them with a sharp knife, 
and remove all the black specks. Slice the fruit about 
half an inch thick. Allow one pound and a quarter 
of sugar to one pound of fruit. Put into a wide- 
mouth jar (glass, if possible) first a layer of sugar, then 
fruit, till it is filled. Make the layers of sugar twice 
as thick as the fruit. Cover the jar closely, and place 
it in a cool place. The sirup is most excellent for 
flavoring. 

Strawberries and Raspberries. Allow a quarter 
of a pound more than the weight of the fruit to every 
two pounds of berries. Put them into jars, a layer of 
sugar, then of berries alternately. Cover them closely. 
If you find that they are fermenting, scald them. 

Plums or any berries may be kept in the following 
manner: Put them in stone jars, or wide-mouthed 
bottles, and cork loosely ; set them up to their necks 
in a boiler of cold water, and boil it. When cold, fill 
the bottles with cold water, cork them, and keep them 
in a dry place. Perhaps a thick mould will appear on 
the top ; do not remove it until you wish to make use 
of the fruit, and then do it very carefully. 

Black Currant Jelly. Strip large, ripe currants 
from the stalks, and mash them with the back of a 
spoon or ladle. Put them into a preserving kettle, with 
a tumbler of water to each quart of currants. Cover 



PUDDINGS. 123 

them closely. When the currants have boiled, strain 
them through a jelly bag. To each pint of juice allow 
a pound of sugar. Boil the juice and sugar together 
about ten or fifteen minutes. 



PUDDINGS. 

The outside of a pudding sometimes tastes disa- 
greeably ; this arises from the negligence of the cook 
in not washing and drying the pudding cloth well. 
Most puddings are nicer boiled in an earthen bowl or 
tin pudding boiler, than in cloth alone. These, how- 
ever, must be tied in a cloth, not only for convenience 
in removing them from the pot, but as a safeguard to 
prevent water getting into the pudding. If a bag 
alone is used, make it very tight by stitching the seams 
very closely. Cut it so that it will be narrower at the 
bottom than at the top, and the corners rounded. When 
used, let the seams be outside. Sew a tape or twine 
on to the seam, about four inches from the top of the 
bag, to tie it with. When used, dip your bag into 
boiling water, squeeze it dry, and flour it well. Put it 
into a pan and pour in the pudding, and tie up the bag 
very tightly, by drawing it together as closely as possi- 
ble. Allow a little room for the pudding to swell. Put 
it into boiling water. After some ten or fifteen minutes 
turn it over, to prevent the flour or fruits from settling 
on one side. Turn the pudding some half dozen times 
during the first half hour. Keep it always covered 
with boiling' water if a cloth bag is used. Have your 
tea-kettle full of boiling water, from which to replenish 
the pot. When you take it up, put your pudding bag 
into the colander, and pour over it a little cold water. 
This prevents the pudding from sticking to the cloth. 
Untie the string, and gently open the bag ; lay it open, 
and put over it the dish it is to be served in ; turn it 
over and remove the colander with the bag very gently, 
not to break your pudding. 



124 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Batter puddings should be strained through a coarse 
sieve, when all mixed. In all other cases where eggs 
are used, strain them first. Always butter the pans or 
basins, and flour the cloths. If hot milk is used, be 
careful and not add the eggs until it is quite cool, 
otherwise your eggs are cooked, and they add neither 
lightness nor good appearance to the pudding. Very 
good puddings can be made without eggs, but they 
must have as little milk as will mix them, and must 
boil three or four hours. A few spoonfuls of yeast will 
answer instead of eggs, or soda with cream of tartar. 

Snow is an excellent substitute for eggs, either in 
puddings or pancakes. Two large spoonfuls will sup- 
ply the place of one egg, and the article it is used in 
will be equally good. It should be fresh-fallen siioir. 
The under layers of snow may be used. The surface 
which is exposed to the air loses its ammonia by evap- 
oration very soon after it has fallen. It is the ammonia 
contained so largely in snow which imparts to it its 
" rising- powerP 

Beat yolks and whites separately. This will make 
as much difference in puddings as in cakes. 

For pumpkin, squash, ground rice, and potato pud- 
dings, boil the milk, and also for bread and plum 
puddings, except where the bread or cracker is soaked 
over night. If raisins are used, scald them with the 
bread, and let them stand two to three hours. Suet 
should be carefully picked from shreds and chopped 
very fine. 

In mixing batter puddings, sift the flour, and pour 
on very little milk at first — gradually pour on the 
remainder, stirring well. This should be done carefully, 
as it is difficult to stir out the lumps when too much 
milk is poured on at once. After the flour is stirred 
smooth in part of the milk, add salt and eggs, then 
the remainder of the milk. When berries are to be 
added, put them in last. A batter pudding with berries 
requires at least one third more flour than one without. 



PUDDINGS. 125 

To cut a boiled pudding, without making it heavy, 
lay your pudding-knife first on one side and then on 
the other upon it, just long enough to warm it. 

When essences or oils are added to puddings, always 
drop them on to a lump of sugar. If you attempt to 
put any oil in without so doing it will not mix with 
the other ingredients, but float upon the surface. 

Dried orange and lemon peel are excellent for sea- 
soning. 

Peach leaves give a better flavor than any spice. 
Boil them in the milk, and take them out before you 
add the other ingredients. Experience will teach one 
the number to be used. 

The most digestible pudding is that made with bread, 
or biscuit, or boiled flour, grated. Paste puddings or 
dumplings are extremely indigestible ; batter pudding 
is not easily digested, and suet puddings are to be con- 
sidered as the most mischievous to invalids in the 
whole catalogue. Pancake is objectionable, on account 
of the frying imparting a greasiness. Boiled Indian 
meal puddings are not very indigestible, and are far 
preferable to wheat. It is well to mix your puddings, 
whether baked or boiled, an hour or two before cook- 
ing them. 

Sago is the pith of the stems of various species of 
palm. It is manufactured in the Moluccas, and is 
imported from Singapore. There are three kinds of it — 
sago meal, pearl sago, and common sago. Sago meal 
is a whitish powder, not much used. Pearl sago con- 
sists of small, pinkish or yellowish grains, about the 
size of a pin's head. Common sago is found in grains 
varying in size from that of grains of pearl barley to 
that of peas ; its color is brownish white, each grain 
being whitish on one part of its surface, and brown on 
the other. Sago is nutritive and easy of digestion. 

Tapioca. This is made from the tuberous root of 
a poisonous plant growing in Brazil. It is called, in 
one shape, Brazilian arrowroot, but when in the form 
11* 



TJt) THE AMERICAN MATItON. 

of irregular lumps, it is called tapioca. It has acquired 
this form from being dried on hot plates. In its nutri- 
tive qualities, tapioca corresponds with sago. It is 
purer, however, being free from coloring matter. It is 
less apt to become sour on the stomach, during diges- 
tion, than any Other farinaceous food. It is very good 

food for children when they are weaning. 

Arrowroot is a pure, white powder, made from 

the roots o\' a tuberous plant, growing in the West 
India islands. That from Bermuda is most esteemed. 
It is a nutritious, easily digestible diet for invalids and 
children. 

Children fed upon arrowroot, or indeed any kind 
of farinaceous iood which does not contain ingredients 
fitted for the formation oi' bones and muscle, become 
fat rather than truly vigorous. Their limbs appear 
full and rounded, but they o"o not acquire strength, nor 
arc their organs properly developed. 

Christmas Plum Pudding. This recipe has been 
handed down from Governor Prinee, oi' the Old Colony, 
io his descendants. 

Take a common size brick loaf, oi' a day old ; remove 
nil the crust, and then slice" it very thin, into mere 
shavings; one pound of raisins; one pound of tin- 
rants, after they are. stoned and cleaned ; six ounces o( 
kidney beef suet, chopped as tine as possible. Take a 
large tin baking pan, butter it, and spread a layer oi' 
suet o\\ the bottom; then a layer of bread, a ihin 
layer of currants, raisins, sttet, and citron, in succession, 
until the bread is expended. Boil one half ounce oi' 
cinnamon in two quarts oi' milk ; add sugar \o your 
taste, with a nutmeg and one glass of brandy, two of 
wine, and three oi' rose water. Before putting the 
milk io boil, put in twelve eggs, well beaten. Strain 

this custard, and pour it gently over the bread into the 
pan until all is absorbed. Let it stand at least two 
hours before baking. Bake it in a hot oven about two 
hours. It requires no sauce. It will have a delicious 



PUDDINGS. 127 

custard interwoven with the bread, raisins, &c. It 
may be baked the day before used. When cool, turn 
it out on to the dish in which it is to be sent to table. 
When you wish to use it, cover it with the pan in 
which it was baked, and set it on a pot of boiling 
water to warm. This will take two to three hours. 

Plum Puddings. Three and one half dozen of milk 
biscuits ; two and one half dozen eggs ; two pounds 
of beef suet or butter ; two pounds of currants ; two 
pounds of raisins ; two quarts of milk ; three nutmegs ; 
one half ounce of cinnamon ; two pounds of sugar. 

Plum Puddings. Twelve groat biscuit ; fifteen eggs ; 
three pounds of suet; three pounds of raisins; two 
pounds of currants ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; 
one half pint of wine ; one gill of rose water ; one half 
ounce of mace ; one half ounce of cloves; a little salt. 

Plum Pudding. Two quarts of milk ; thirteen groat 
biscuit ; nine eggs ; two pounds of raisins ; a little 
salt ; sugar to your taste ; spice. 

Plum Pudding. Ten groat biscuit, break them up ; 
pour over them three pints of milk, and let them stand 
over night, and the next morning, rub the crackers 
through a colander. Beat up eight eggs ; one pound 
of sugar ; one cup of molasses ; one of brandy ; three 
quarters of a pound of suet, chopped fine ; or butter ; 
one table-spoonful of salt ; two nutmegs ; half a spoon- 
ful of mace; one spoonful of cloves; quarter of a 
pound of citron ; one pound of currants ; and one and 
a half pounds of raisins. This pudding may be either 
baked or boiled in a tin or earthen mould, or cloth. 
Allow it to boil full four hours. To be served with 
cold sauce. To any of these plum puddings can be 
poured over one half a tumbler of brandy, and set fire 
to, just as it is sent to table. This makes a very 
pretty appearance, and the flavor of burnt brandy is 
an improvement to the pudding. 

Plum Pudding. Pound one dozen Medford crack- 
ers ; pour over them two quarts of boiling milk ; cover 



128 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

it, and let it stand until cold. Add half a pound of 
beef suet, chopped fine ; two and a half tea-cups of 
fine sugar; one tea-spoon of fine mace ; one of cloves; 
one of cinnamon ; one nutmeg, grated ; one gill of 
wine or brandy ; two tea-spoonfuls of rose water ; and 
little salt; fifteen eggs. The last thing, add a quart 
bowl of stoned raisins, well floured, to prevent their 
settling. Three hours will bake this. 

Plum Pudding. Seven biscuits ; three fourths of a 
quart of milk ; four eggs ; six ounces of suet or butter ; 
raisins, spice, and sugar. 

Custard Plum Pudding. Pound six groat crackers 
fine ; soak them over night in three pints of milk. The 
next morning, add six eggs ; one nutmeg; a little lemon ; 
three fourths of a pound of raisins. Bake two hours. 

Plum Pudding. Take a brick loaf a day old, or 
about one pound of bread, and pour over it a quart of 
milk ; if mixed in the morning, the milk should be 
scalding ; if over night, the milk should be cold. Pass 
it through a colander. Add six or eight eggs ; two 
pounds of raisins ; spice and sugar, to your taste. 

Plum Pudding, for Thanksgiving. Forty-eight 
groat biscuits ; six quarts of milk ; forty -five eggs ; two 
pounds of butter ; four tea-spoonfuls of cloves ; four 
tea-spoonfuls of mace ; six of cinnamon ; eight nut- 
megs ; five quarts of raisins ; four gills of rose water ; 
eighteen cups of sugar ; four glasses of brandy ; citron 
if you choose. Scald the bread and butter with the 
milk. Those who are fond of cold plum pudding will 
find this a very nice recipe. 

Boiled Plum Pudding. The raisins first dried a 
little in the oven. Then put a layer on the bottom of 
the mould, well buttered. Dip some slices of sponge 
cake into a rich batter, to soften it; then lay it on the 
raisins ; then again raisins ; then cake, as before. 
Proceed thus until the mould is full. Boil one hour. 

Boiled Plum Pudding, without Eggs. Pour over 
twelve crackers, after they are broken, one quart of 



PUDDINGS. , 129 

milk ; let it stand over night ; strain it through a colan- 
der. The next morning, add a quarter pound of suet ; 
a pound of raisins ; half a pound of currants ; a little 
salt ; and a tea-cup of molasses. Boil it three to four 
hours. To be eaten with a rich sauce. 

Eve's Pudding. Six eggs ; six apples, chopped fine ; 
six ounces of suet ; six ounces of cracker, pounded ; 
six ounces of currants ; six ounces of sugar ; a little 
salt and nutmeg. Boil it three hours. Serve with 
wine or brandy sauce. 

Eve's Pudding. Pound three fourths of a pound 
of crackers, and mix it with the same quantity of fine 
suet, apples, and dried currants ; seven eggs ; and the 
rind of a lemon, chopped fine. Boil it three hours. 

Marlborough Pudding. Six large, sour apples, 
stewed ; six eggs ; six ounces of butter ; peel of a lem- 
on, grated ; the juice of two lemons ; two milk bis- 
cuits ;" rose water if you please. Use eight eggs, if the 
biscuit are omitted. Bake in deep plates, with a rich 
purl* paste, and rather a thick edging. 

Marlborough Pudding. To two quarts of sour 
apples, after they are stewed and strained, put one half 
of a pound of butter ; sugar to your taste ; peel of two 
and juice of three lemons. When cool, add thirty-two 
eggs ; one quart of cream. Do not put these puddings 
into the paste until just as they are set into the oven. 

The apples to either of these recipes may be grated 
or chopped exceeding fine, instead of stewing them. 
Perhaps the flavor is little better. 

Marlborough Pudding, without Lemon. Six ounces 
of sour apples, grated ; six eggs; eight ounces of sugar; 
four ounces of butter ; a pint of good cream, (not too 
thick ;) one glass of wine ; two nutmegs. 

Marlborough Pudding. Twenty-four apples ; one 
and three quarter pounds of sugar ; one pound of 
butter ; four groat biscuits ; four gills of rose water ; 
peel and juice of four lemons; nutmeg and cinnamon. 

Potato Pudding. To two pounds of white potatoes, 



130 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

boiled and mashed smooth, add one half pound of 
butter : the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of three ; 
one hall' pound of sugar ; one half pint of wine ; one 
nutmeg; two gills of cream. Bake in deep dishes 
with a rich puff paste and rather a thick edging. Some 
persons put in one half pound of dried currants. 

Potato Pudding. One pound of potatoes ; one gill 
of wine; one gill of cream; seven eggs; the juice and 
peel of two lemons; one quarter pound of butter; 
sugar to your taste. Strew over the top an ounce of 
citron, shred fine, 

Potato Pudding, eaten hot. One pound oi' sifted 
potato; one half pound of butter; one half pound of 
sugar : ten eggs ; one glass of wine ; one of rose water. 
Put no paste round the dish. Bake this in one hour. 
Serve it with cold sauce. 

Baked Almond Pudding. Blanch one half pound 
of almonds; beat them smooth in a mortar: one spoon- 
ful oi' rose water ; one of cream or milk, thickened with 
one large spoonful of pounded biscuit ; one half pound 
o( sugar; seven eggs, and one nutmeg. 

Boiled Almond Pudding. Blanch one pound of 
almonds ; beat them in a mortar to a smooth paste, 
with three tea-spoonfuls rose water. Add one gill of 
wine; one pint of cream; one gill of milk; one egg; 
one spoonful of flour. Boil one half hour. 

Bread and Butter Pudding. Cut the bread in thin 
slices : butter them, and put a layer into a well-buttered 
dish. Strew currants, raisins, and citron, or sweet- 
meats over it. Then another layer of bread and fruit, 
so on, until the dish is tilled. Beat six eggs, with one 
pint of milk, a little salt, nutmeg, and a spoonful of 
rose water; sweeten to your taste, and pour it over the 
bread. Let it soak one or two hours before baking. 
Bake one halt' hour. 

Lemon Pudding. The rind o( two lemons and juice 
o( one: one pint of cream; one half pound o( sugar; 
seven eggs : one quarter pound of butter. Baked in 
deep dishes with a puff paste. 



PUDDINGS. 131 

Lemon Pudding. Chop very fine the rind of three 
large lemons ; beat yolks of twelve eggs and whites of 
six, with one half pint of cream ; two groat biscuit ; one 
half pound of sugar; one quarter pound of butter; one 
gill of rose water ; with the juice of three lemons. Bake, 
in a puff paste. You can stick in the top some strips 
of citron. Bake three fourths of an hour. Serve hot. 

Cocoa-nut Pudding. One pound of grated cocoa- 
nut; one pound of sugar; one quarter pound of butter; 
twelve eggs, leaving out six whites ; four spoonfuls of 
rose water; four of cream; the rind of one lemon and 
juice of two. Break the nut and remove the black 
skin carefully; wash the pieces in cold water, and wipe 
them dry. Stir the butter and sugar to a cream, add- 
ing the rose water and cream gradually. Beat the 
eggs well and separately ; stir them into the butter and 
cream, then sprinkle in the nut. Bake in a deep dish 
with a puff paste. Bake it one half hour. Sift sugar 
over it when baked. 

Cocoa-nut Pudding. Grate one nut; take the weight 
in sugar ; add a little of the milk of the nut, enough 
to make a sirup. Boil them, adding the peel of a 
lemon grated or chopped very fine; and when cold, 
stir all together with six eggs. If the nut is large, eight 
eggs will be needed. 

Cocoa-nut Pudding. Grate the nut and save the 
milk if it is sweet, not rancid. Boil a quart of milk 
and pour upon it ; add five eggs, with a cup of sugar ; 
an ounce of butter; two table-spoonfuls of rose water; 
a little salt. Bake it in a rich paste. 

Ground Rice Pudding. Two quarts of milk ; one 
quart of cream ; eighteen eggs ; the juice and peel of 
four lemons ; nine table-spoonfuls of ground rice ; one 
quarter pound of butter ; sugar and rose water to your 
taste. Boil the milk ; mix the rice with a little cold 
milk, then stir it into the boiling milk ; let it boil to 
thicken ; stir it that it may not lump. When cool, add 
eggs and other ingredients. Put a paste round the dish. 



132 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Ground Rice Pudding. Mix two and one half large 
spoonfuls of rice in a little cold milk ; stir it into one 
quart of boiling milk ; let it boil fifteen minutes, stir- 
ring it constantly. When cold, add five eggs ; a little 
lemon ; sugar to your taste, and bake it one hour. Put 
a paste or not, as you prefer, on the dish. 

Baked Flour Pudding. Boil one quart of milk ; 
when entirely cold, add it gradually to eight table- 
spoonfuls of flour ; eight eggs, yolks and whites beaten 
separately ; a little salt. Bake one hour. 

Sunderland Pudding. Nine eggs ; nine gills of 
milk ; nine large spoonfuls of flour ; a little salt. Boil 
or bake it. 

Sunderland Pudding. One pint of milk ; six spoon- 
fuls of flour ; six eggs ; a little salt. Boil or bake it. 

Sunderland Pudding. Ten table-spoonfuls of flour ; 
ten eggs ; one quart of cream. Bake or boil it. Either 
of these last recipes can be baked in one dish an hour, 
or in small cups one half hour. 

Corn Pudding. Gather the corn when in the milk, 
neither too young nor too old ; parboil it ; grate it fine. 
To one dozen and a half ears of corn add a pint of 
milk, one half pound of sugar, four eggs, and a little 
salt. Bake slowly three hours. 

Bread Pudding. One brick loaf; five eggs; one and 
one half gill of fine suet ; two table-spoonfuls of sugar ; 
one quart of milk; salt and spice. Baked one hour. 

Boiled Ground Rice Pudding. Four large spoon- 
fuls of ground rice; four eggs; one quart of milk; a 
gill of cream ; some raisins or currants. Boil it in a 
tin boiler. 

Boiled Ground Rice. Boil one quart of milk, and 
stir in as much ground rice as possible ; then mix in 
nine eggs, well beaten, and add a small piece of butter. 
Tie in a bag very tightly, and boil two hours. 

Ground Rice Pudding. One gill of ground rice ; 
three fourths of a pound of sugar ; one quarter of a 
pound of butter ; nine eggs ; one nutmeg ; one glass 



PUDDINGS. 133 

of wine ; one spoonful of rose water. Put the rice, 
wet with cold milk, into the boiling milk. Boil it a 
few minutes, and when cold, put in the eggs and other 
ingredients. 

Ground Rice Pudding. Stir in four table-spoonfuls 
rice into one quart of boiling milk ; add one half pint 
of cream ; six eggs ; the peel and juice of one lemon ; 
sugar to your taste ; one quarter pound of butter. 
Bake with puff paste around the dish. 

Sago Pudding. Wash one half a pound sago in 
three or four waters ; put it into one quart of milk. 
Boil these together till thick, stirring it carefully. Stir 
in, when hot, one half pound of butter; when cold, 
add eight eggs, beaten well; four spoonfuls of wine; 
two of rose water ; sweeten to your taste. Bake this 
in paste or not, as you like. 

Sago Pudding. Boil one and one half pints of new 
milk with four spoonfuls of pearl sago ; lemon peel, 
cinnamon, and nutmeg ; sweeten to your taste ; add, 
when cool, four eggs. 

Sago Pudding. One gill of sago to one quart of 
milk. Boil together ; add a little butter, four eggs, 
two table-spoonfuls of sugar. 

Sago Pudding, with Water. Boil eight table-spoon- 
fuls of sago in one quart of water, with a stick of 
cinnamon. When it is thick, add a little butter ; a 
glass of wine ; sugar to your taste. When cold, add 
four well-beaten eggs. Bake it one half hour. 

Tapioca Pudding. Take a coffee-cup of tapioca ; 
put it to soak in a pint of water over night. In the 
morning, add three pints of milk, a piece of butter, a 
spoonful of rose water, nine eggs ; sugar and spice to 
your taste. Raisins may be added if you like. 

Tapioca Pudding. Take a pint bowl of tapioca, 
and put it to soak in a quart of water. Have six or 
eight apples, peeled and cored, put around in a dish. 
Pour one quart of boiling water on the tapioca, and 
boil it. Let it thicken well ; sweeten it to your taste. 
12 



134 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

When thick, pom* it on the apples and bake it one hour. 
You can make a very good pudding by boiling tapioca 
in either milk or water, adding a little salt. To be 
eaten cold, with sugar and cream. 

Squash Pudding. Four pounds of squash ; two 
quarts of milk ; eighteen eggs ; two glasses of wine ; 
one pound of sugar ; two crackers ; butter or cream ; 
nutmeg or cinnamon. 

Squash Pudding. One quart of sifted squash ; one 
quart of milk or cream ; sixteen or twelve eggs ; one 
pound of butter ; one and one fourth pounds of sugar ; 
two nutmegs ; four spoonfuls of rose water ; two or 
four groat biscuits. 

Squash Pudding. To nine spoonfuls of strained 
squash, add one quart of boiled milk ; seven eggs ; a 
little salt ; three table-spoonfuls of wine ; two of rose 
water ; the peel and juice of a lemon ; sugar to your 
taste. Baked either with or without a paste. 

Pumpkin Pies may be made in the same manner as 
squash. Both may be made less rich. They are very 
good without eggs, substituting a little more pumpkin 
or squash, and one cracker, pounded, to a quart of milk. 
Omit the wine and rose water, using in their place 
cinnamon and a very little ginger. Both pumpkin and 
squash should be boiled in as little water as possible. 

Sweet Potato Padding. Boil or bake the potatoes; 
rub them through a sieve. Three pints of milk ; thir- 
teen eggs ; three pounds of potato ; a little butter ; 
nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace ; a tea-spoonful salt. 
This pudding may be made in less expensive manner, 
as pumpkin pies. It is necessary to make them a little 
thicker with potato, as pumpkin swells more. 

Apple Pudding. Make a good puff paste ; roll it 
out half an inch thick ; pare and core the apples ; fill 
the paste, and boil it from one to two hours, or, if 
large, from three to four hours. 

Apple Pudding. Two pounds of flour ; three quar- 
ters of a pound of butter; one pint of cold water; ten 
large apples, peeled and grated. 



PUDDINGS. 135 

Apple Pudding. Make a crust of eight potatoes, 
boiled and mashed ; add half a pound of butter, rubbed 
well into the potatoes, adding as much flour and cold 
water as will make a stiff paste ; peel, quarter, and 
core the apples ; roll out the paste an inch thick ; dip 
the pudding cloth into water; lay it into the colander; 
flour it well, and lay over the crust ; fill it with the 
apples; sprinkle in a tea-spoonful of cinnamon; cover 
the paste over, and tie up the cloth close, and put it 
into boiling water. Boil this three hours, turning it 
over occasionally. Be careful and keep the pot full of 
water. 

Carrot Pudding. One half pound of grated carrot, 
and one pound of bread crumbs. Beat six eggs well, 
and add one glass of wine, one half a nutmeg, and 
mix well together ; a pint of cream ; two ounces of 
sugar. Bake it in a dish lined with puff paste. 

Boiled Rice Pudding. Take two cups of rice ; 
wash it well in cold water ; put it in a tin pudding 
boiler, with two quarts of water and a little salt. Boil 
this two hours. Or, tie up two cups of rice, with a 
little salt, in a cloth loosely, so as to give room for the 
rice to swell. Boil this two hours. Or, put one quart 
of milk or water, with a little salt to boil ; when it 
boils, stir in two cups of well-washed rice ; stir it up 
well ; cover it until it begins to boil, when stir again, 
and keep off the cover ; boil it twenty minutes ; remove 
it from the fire, and cover it again to steam. It can 
be put into a form, and covered to keep hot. Some 
people stir in two eggs, well beaten, when taken from 
the fire. It will turn out in form in about fifteen or 
twenty minutes. When the rice is swelled, one half 
pound of raisins may be stirred in. 

Baked Rice Pudding. One gill of rice ; two thirds 
of a cup of molasses ; one tea-spoonful of cinnamon ; 
one of salt ; a small piece of butter. Stir this to- 
gether, and add a quart of milk. Bake this in a mod- 
erate oven. Stir it occasionally for the first hour. Bake 
three hours. 



136 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Baked Rice Pudding. Two gills of rice ; one quart 
of milk ; six eggs ; a cup and one half of sugar ; a 
little lemon, nutmeg, and salt. Bake one hour. 

Transparent Pudding. Beat eight eggs ; put them 
into a saucepan with half a pound of sugar ; one half 
pound of butter ; one nutmeg. Put it over the fire, and 
stir until it thickens ; when cool, put it into a rich puff 
paste, and bake it in a moderate oven. It will cut 
light and clear. Citron is an improvement. 

Cracker Pudding. Four biscuits, pounded and 
swollen, in one quart of milk ; eight eggs ; sugar and 
spice to your taste. 

Dried Apple, or Dried Plum Pudding. Make a 
rich paste ; roll it out, and spread over it, about an 
inch thick, apples stewed, or cranberries, or raisins ; 
roll it up, and put it into a cloth ; tie it at both ends. 
Boil it from one to two hours. 

Huckleberry Pudding. One brick loaf; one quart 
of milk ; three eggs ; two quarts of berries. 

Huckleberry Pudding. Make a stiff batter with 
one pint of milk ; two quarts of berries stirred in. 
Boil three hours. If made of blueberries, it must be 
made stiffer than for huckleberry. 

Huckleberry Pudding. Make a paste with one 
quart of flour and half a pound of butter ; rub one 
half the butter into the flour ; mix this with cold water ; 
roll it out, and put on the remainder of the butter in 
little pieces ; roll it out half an inch thick ; spread the 
cloth, previously dipped in water and well floured, over 
the colander ; lay the paste on it ; fill it with berries ; tie 
the cloth tight ; put it into boiling water, and boil two 
hours. 

Blackberries, Blueberries, and Cherries may be 
made in the same manner. 

Bunn Pudding, with Fruit. Stew together one 
quart each of huckleberries, raspberries, and blackber- 
ries ; one pint of currants, and one pound of sugar. 
Take toasted bunns ; put a layer of bunns on the dish, 



PUDDINGS. 



137 



then a layer of the preserve, then another layer of 
bunns, and so on until the dish is full. Let it stand 
three or four hours. Serve with sugar and cream. 

Baked Huckleberry Pudding. Make a rich batter, 
with four or six eggs to one quart of milk ; stir in one 
quart of berries. Bake it one hour. 

Boiled Custard Pudding. One pint of cream ; six 
eggs ; two spoonfuls of flour ; one half nutmeg ; salt 
and sugar to your taste ; butter the mould ; and boil 
one half hour. Turn it out very carefully. You may 
put currant jelly over it, and serve with sweet sauce. 

A Charlotte. Cut as many thin slices of bread 
as will cover the bottom and sides of a pudding dish, 
well buttered ; put apples in thin slices into the dish 
until full, strewing sugar between them, and a few bits 
of butter ; have ready as many thin slices of bread as 
will cover the whole, soaked in warm milk ; cover with 
them, and lay on, a plate and weight, to keep the bread 
close on the apples ; bake slowly three hours. For a 
middling-sized dish, use one half pound of butter. 

Baked Apple Pudding. Stew until tender a dozen 
apples; then stir in one half pound of sugar; four 
ounces of butter ; half a nutmeg; the peel and juice 
of one lemon, and four eggs. Put a puff paste round 
the dish. Bake it one half hour. Sift sugar over it 
when cooked. 

Apple Suet Pudding. Two gills of milk ; one gill 
molasses ; one pint apples, chopped ; one pint suet ; 
flour sufficient to stiffen it. Boil this four hours. 

Bird's Nest Pudding. Pare and core twelve ap- 
ples; put them into a buttered dish. Pour over them 
a rich custard. Bake an hour. 

Bird's Nest Pudding. Pare eight apples ; core 
them, and lay them in a buttered dish. Beat four eggs 
with four spoonfuls of Hour, adding, gradually, three 
gills of milk, and a little salt. Pour this over the ap- 
ples, and bake an hour. Served with sauce. 

Bunn Pudding. Bunns can be obtained in Boston, 
12* 



138 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

at the shops, already toasted. Put as many in the 
dish as will conveniently stand. Mix a good custard 
and pour over the bunns ; let it stand from one to two 
hours. If the custard is absorbed, fill up with more, 
and bake an hour and a half. 

Macaroni, or Vermicelli Pudding. Take two 
ounces of macaroni ; simmer it until tender, in a pint 
of milk. When cooked, add a pint of cold milk ; five 
eggs ; a tea-cup of sugar ; flavor with peach water. 
Bake it one hour. 

Pine Apple Pudding. Peel the pine apple, and 
take care to get out all the black specks, and grate it. 
Take its weight in sugar, and half its weight in butter ; 
rub them together to a cream, and stir them into the 
pine apple. Add six eggs and a large cup of cream. 
Bake with or without paste. 

Custard Pudding. Beat eight or four eggs ; add a 
half pound of sugar ; stir these into one quart of milk ; 
season it with peach, lemon, or vanilla. Pour it into 
a well-buttered dish. Put a pan into the oven half 
full of water, and set the pudding dish into it. Bake 
it three fourths of an hour. 

You can put paste round deep dishes and bake this 
custard in it. Bake three quarters of an hour. It is 
a good plan to cut a rim of paper and put on to the 
paste, to prevent it from scorching after it has browned 
sufficiently, and before the pudding is baked. 

Boiled Arrowroot Pudding. Four table-spoon- 
fuls of arrowroot ; two of sugar ; four eggs ; one 
quart of milk. Wet the arrowroot with a little milk, 
and put the remainder to boil. Beat the eggs and 
sugar, and beat them well into the arrowroot. Add 
a little salt. When the milk boils, stir them in ; it 
will thicken in a moment. Wet a mould with 
water, and pour in the pudding. Eat it with sugar 
and cream. 

Baked Arrowroot Pudding. Stir into a quart 
of boiling milk two heaping table-spoonfuls of arrow- 



PUDDINGS. 139 

root, wet with milk. When cool, add five eggs, a 
little salt, lemon, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Baked in 
deep dishes, lined with a puff paste. 

Baked Indian Pudding. Boil one quart of milk, 
and pour it over two and one half gills of Indian meal ; 
one gill molasses ; seven eggs ; little butter and salt. 
Bake from one and a half to two hours, according to 
the depth of dish. 

Baked Indian Pudding, with Apples. Pare twelve 
sweet apples, and core them. Have ready six gills of 
Indian meal, mixed with one gill of flour, a tea-spoon 
salt, a tea-cup of molasses, and a little chopped suet. 
Boil the milk, and pour it on to the meal very gradu- 
ally ; then stir in the other ingredients. Pour the 
whole over the apples. Bake three hours. 

Boiled Indian Pudding. One pint of Indian meal, 
wet with molasses; one tea-spoonful of salt. Stir in 
two quarts of boiling milk, gradually ; a small piece of 
butter; dried orange or lemon peel. Boil two hours. 

Boiled Indian Pudding. One quart of milk ; three 
and one half gills meal; large tea-spoon salt; one gill 
of molasses. Boil three hours. 

Boiled Rye Pudding. To a pint of cold milk put 
three heaping spoonfuls of sifted rye meal, a little salt, 
and three eggs. Boil it one hour in a buttered mould 
This pudding will swell but little. 

Baked Rye Pudding. One pint of milk; one pint 
of meal ; six eggs ; and a little salt ; a small cup of 
sugar. 

Carolina Snow Balls. Take cores out of as 
many apples as you wish snow balls, and fill the holes 
with orange or lemon peel, cut fine. Allow two 
spoonfuls of rice to cover each apple, and tie each one 
in a cloth, and boil an hour. 

Squash Pudding, without Eggs. One quart of 
squash ; one quart of milk, with the weight of one cent 
of carrageen boiled in it. Strain the hot milk on to 
the hot squash. Butter, sugar, and spice. 



140 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Yorkshire Pudding. To be baked under roast 
beef. Mix six spoonfuls of flour with one quart of 
milk, and three eggs, well beaten ; a little salt. Butter 
a tin cake-pan ; pour in the batter, and put the pan 
under the meat to catch the drippings. When brown 
on one side, turn the other side up, and brown it. To 
be eaten with the meat. It is a pleasant accompani- 
ment. 

Pancakes, or Fritters. One pint of milk ; four 
eggs ; a little salt ; flour to make a light batter ; a nut- 
meg, grated, or a few drops of essence of lemon. 
Have ready some hot lard ; drop in a large spoonful 
of batter, and fry of a light brown. Served with wine 
and sugar, or hot cider, sweetened to your taste. 

Apple Fritters. Make a batter, the same as the 
preceding ; slice apples about a quarter of an inch 
thick ; dip the apples in wine or brandy ; dip them 
in the batter ; take out, with a spoon, a slice of apple 
with some batter ; drop it into hot lard, and fry 
brown. In making these batters, snov) may be used 
instead of eggs. 

Spanish Fritters. Cut a roll into slices as thick 
as your finger, of any shape you choose. Soak 
them in a quart of milk or cream, mixed with nut- 
meg, sugar, and three eggs ; one wine glass of wine. 
When well soaked, fry of a nice brown, and serve 
with sauce. 

Fritters may be made with peaches in the same 
way as apples. The fruit may be soaked in wine or 
brandy, previously, if liked, but they do not fry so well. 
Serve them on a napkin, and sift sugar over them. 

Fritters, with Marmalade. A quarter of a pound 
of flour, mixed well with four eggs, beaten ; then add 
half a pint of milk or cream ; a little grated nutmeg. 
Put a very little lard into the spider, and when hot, put 
in two table-spoonfuls of this mixture. Let it spread 
over the pan ; fry it brown on both sides. When you 
have cooked each one, take it up and spread over any 



PUDDINGS. 



141 



marmalade you choose ; roll them up, and sift sugar 
over them. Serve on a napkin, hot. 

Apple and Cracker Pudding. Six apples, stewed 
and rubbed through a colander ; six eggs, beaten well, 
added when the apple is cold ; the juice of one lemon ; 
six ounces of sugar ; rub the rind well with sugar ; 
stir into the apple, when hot, two ounces of butter ; six 
soft crackers pounded and sifted. Put a layer of 
cracker on the bottom of pudding dish, then put in a 
little butter, then one half of the apple, and again 
crackers ; put a few pieces of butter over the top. 
Stick in, if you choose, some almonds. Bake one half 
hour. This quantity will make two puddings. Tapi- 
oca, swelled and boiled, used instead of crackers, makes 
a nice dish. 

Savory Rice. Wash some rice ; stew it gently in 
some mutton or veal broth, with an onion, pepper, 
mace, and salt. When swelled and tender, dry it on 
the shallow side of a sieve before the fire. Serve it 
either dry, or put it into the middle of a dish and pour 
the gravy around it. W T hen rice is used as a veg«table, 
this is a nice way of cooking it. If you have no broth, 
use water, with a little piece of butter, and the spices 
as above. 

Bread Pudding. Take some stale bread, cut it in 
thin slices into some cold milk, and let it stand two or 
three hours, mash it with a spoon, and have it the con- 
sistency of hasty pudding. W T hen soft enough, add 
eight eggs, well beaten, to a quart of milk, and a little 
salt. Boil it in a bag or boiler. 

Curate's Pudding. To one pound of mashed pota- 
toes, while hot, add four ounces of suet and two ounces 
of flour ; a little salt, and as much milk as will give it the 
consistency of common suet puddings. Put it into a 
dish, or roll it into dumplings, and bake it a fine brown. 

Birdsnest Sago Pudding. Soak one half pint of 
sago in three pints of water, until uniformly swelled. 
Pare and core ten or twelve apples. Fill the holes with 



142 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

sugar. Place these apples in a pudding dish. Pour 
over the sago so that it will just cover the apples, and 
bake until the apples are soft. 

Rusk Pudding. Soak seven or eight rusks in a cus- 
tard, made of five or six eggs to a pint of milk, until 
they are soft. Brown them in butter and serve with a 
rich sauce. 

Sweet Apple Pudding. One pint of scalding milk ; 
one half pint of Indian meal ; tea-spoon of salt ; six 
sweet apples, cut in small pieces, and stirred in. To 
be baked not less than three hours. 

Tapioca Pudding. One quart of blood warm milk 
poured on a tea-cup and a half of tapioca, directly- 
after breakfast. One hour and a half before dinner put 
into it four eggs, and let it steam one hour. To be 
eaten with sugar and cream. 

Tapioca Pudding. One gill of tapioca ; three eggs ; 
one tea-spoonful salt ; three gills of milk ; sugar and 
spice. Scald the tapioca after soaking it with water, 
and well beat it, till it is a jelly. 

Lemon Pudding. One quart of new milk; four ounces 
of butter rubbed with two table-spoonfuls flour, and 
put into the milk when boiling ; sugar to your taste. 
When cool, add eight eggs, well beaten ; the grated 
rind and juice of two lemons, when about to bake it. 
Bake three fourths of an hour. Paste if you please. 



SWEET DISHES. 

The digestibility of the different varieties and forms 
of gelatinous matter is not uniform. Calves' foot jelly, 
when freshly prepared, is readily digested by invalids. 
Isinglass and hartshorn jellies are probably easy to 
digest. But other forms of this aliment, as in gelatinous 
liquids, such as soups, hashes, and stews, are obnoxious 
to dyspeptics on account of the effect of heat on the 
fat and gelatinous matter of which they are composed. 



SWEET DISHES. 143 

Isinglass jelly has been found a better article of 
nourishment in cases of cholera infantum in children, 
when teething, than farinaceous substances. 

The finest kinds of isinglass are imported from 
Russia and Siberia. The American is less carefully 
prepared, and has a somewhat fishy flavor. It, how- 
ever, is very good as a fining or clearing agent in coffee 
and wine. 

The " patent refined gelatine " is a pure kind of glue, 
prepared for domestic purposes. It is prepared, by pref- 
erence, " from the cuttings of the hides of beasts, or of 
the skins of calves, freed from fat, hair, and flesh." It 
is sold in the form of cuttings, and one can easily see 
why it is a cheaper preparation than isinglass. These 
patent substitutes for isinglass and calves' feet are, of 
course, inferior in nutritive power and digestibility. 

Hartshorn shavings, or the raspings of the antlers of 
the deer, are employed in the preparation of jellies. 

Pigs' feet, cows' heels, and sheep's feet, make a very 
good jelly or soup. 

Two shins, well soaked in water, will make the same 
quantity of jelly as four calves' feet, and in winter season, 
when it is difficult to obtain feet, they are very useful. 

Coloring to stain Jellies, Ices, or Cakes. For a 
beautiful red, boil fifteen grains of cochineal, powdered 
with a drachm and a half of cream of tartar, in half a 
pint of water, for one hour. Add, in boiling, a bit of 
alum, the size of a pea ; or, beet root, sliced, with some 
liquor poured over it. For yellow, yolks of eggs, or a 
bit of saffron, steeped in the liquor, and squeezed. For 
green, pound spinach, or beet leaves ; express the juice, 
and boil it in a tea-cup ; set it in a saucepan of water to 
take off the rawness. 

Charlotte Russe. A custard made of one pint of 
milk and four eggs, leaving out the whites of two ; 
one half a vanilla bean, and a little rose water to flavor 
it. Make it very sweet. Dissolve one ounce of isin- 
glass, and stir it into the custard. Beat to a froth one 



144 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

pint of rich cream, and when the custard is mixed with 
the isinglass, pour it over the frothed cream, stirring it 
well. Fix lady-finger cakes, or slices of sponge cake, 
in the mould, and when the mixture is cool, pour it in 
and set it on ice till served. If, when all mixed, the 
custard does not seem frothy, churn well with a whip- 
stick till it does, before putting it into the mould. The 
isinglass should be kept warm while the custard thick- 
ens, and then added. 

You may make a richer custard with ten eggs, leav- 
ing out six whites. From the whites you may make 
snow. 

Snow. Whites of six eggs ; six apples, stewed, and 
passed through a sieve ; sugar to your taste ; a little 
lemon juice, and beat these together till perfectly stiff. 

Charlotte Russe. Dissolve one ounce of isinglass, 
or gelatine, in a cup of new milk ; beat the yolks of 
twelve eggs and one pound of white sugar together. 
Whip to a froth half a pint of good cream, and beat to 
a froth the whites of twelve eggs. Strain the isinglass 
into the yolks ; add the cream, then the whites, and 
beat it all together. Flavor it with vanilla. Line the 
moulds with sponge cake, and turn in the cream, and 
set it on the ice for five or six hours. 

Charlotte Russe. One ounce of isinglass ; dis- 
solve it in a cup of new milk, flavored with two tea- 
spoonfuls of essence of vanilla. Strain this, when 
dissolved, into a pint of rich cream, made very sweet 
and beaten to a froth. Put this on ice, while you beat 
to a stiff froth the whites of seven eggs, and add them 
to the cream. Let this stand in a bowl or pitcher, on 
ice, until it is set through, not to be too stiff. Line the 
moulds and pour it in. Set it on ice till served. One 
dozen and a half of finger cakes will be sufficient. 
You can dip the cakes into the white of egg to stick 
them together, letting them stand one half hour before 
filling. 

Charlotte Russe. Take one quart of cream, and 



SWEET DISHES. 145 

whisk it until it is quite stiff with froth. Put one 
ounce of isinglass in a saucepan, with a tea-cupful of 
Roiling water, and let it remain where it will scald with- 
out boiling until the isinglass is dissolved. Take a 
half pint of milk, two stocks of vanilla, about an inch 
and a half long, or flavor with essence of rose. Boil 
tliis till milk is reduced to a gill. Take yolks of three 
eggs well beaten, and stir them into the milk while on 
the fire. Then add the isinglass, with three quarters of 
a pound of sugar. Stir it until it is cooled, to about 
the consistency of soft custard. Then strain it through 
a sieve, or coarse cloth. When nearly cooled, add the 
cream, and stir them well together. It is better to add 
the whites of three or four eggs, to be beaten up with the 
cream. Line your moulds with long strips of sponge 
cake, or ladies' fingers, and pour in the material. Be- 
fore serving, pour a glass of mareschino cordial on to 
the sponge cake part ; a little added to the custard is 
sometimes approved. The cakes can be dipped in the 
white of egg to keep them in place, and to stick them 
together. 

Decoction of Isinglass. One ounce of isinglass 
dissolved in one gill of rose water, or simple water if 
other flavoring be used. 

Decoction of Hartshorn is prepared by boiling one 
ounce of the shavings in two quarts of water, down to 
one quart. When sweetened, it is a pleasant drink. 

Calves' Foot Jelly. Take four feet, and boil them 
in one gallon of water, to two quarts. Strain it to cool, 
and when cold take off the fat ; put the jelly on the 
fire with one pint and a half gill of wine, and one gill 
of brandy ; one pound of loaf sugar ; the juice of five 
lemons, and the peel of two ; the whites of seven eggs, 
with the shells. Boil all together for one half hour, 
then pass it through a thick flannel bag until clear. 

Calves' Foot Jelly. Boil four feet in a gallon of 
water, until reduced to one quart. Strain it and let it 
stand until cold. Then skim off the fat, adding to the 
13 



146 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

jelly one pint of wine, one half pound of sugar, the 
whites of six eggs, and the juice of two and peel of 
one lemon. Boil all together with the shells of the 
eggs. Strain it through a flannel bag into moulds. 

Gelatine and Isinglass Jelly are made as above, 
using one ounce to one quart of water ; a pint of 
wine ; three lemons ; one pound of sugar ; the whites 
and shells of five eggs. Boil it five minutes, and strain 
it as above. 

Hartshorn Jelly. One pound of shavings of harts- 
horn boiled in three quarts of water, to one quart ; add 
wine as above, and proceed as above directed. 

Mareschino Jelly is made by mixing six liqueur 
glasses of mareschino with a quart of clarified calves' 
foot or isinglass jelly. Peaches, or other fruits, cut in 
quarters, may be added. 

Rum Punch and Noyeau Jelly are made as above. 

French Jellies may be made with all kinds of fresh 
fruits, filling the mould by degress, the jelly first; let it 
set, then put in fruit and then jelly, and so on alter- 
nately till full, the mould being buried in ice. In win- 
ter, fruits preserved in sirup may be used, waiting each 
time you pour on the jelly for it to cool, that the fruit 
may keep in place. 

Whipped Jellies may be made of any of the above, 
by placing some warm jelly in a large bowl on ice, and 
•when nearly cold, whisking it to a froth. Pour quickly 
into moulds, and let it remain till served. 

Orange Jelly. Half of a pound of hartshorn shav- 
ings, or four ounces of isinglass or gelatine, and dissolve 
it, boiling the shavings to a strong jelly ; the juice 
of nine oranges, with the juice of three, and peel of 
two lemons. Sweeten to your taste. Add the whites 
of eight eggs, and boil them together for ten minutes. 
Strain it as other jellies, into moulds. 

Lemon Jelly is made as above, using the juice of 
six lemons with the rind of one, adding one gill of 
white wine. 



SWEET DISHES. 147 

Bohemian Jelly Creams may be made of any flavor, 
as jellies, and either ripe or preserved fruits, or with 
marmalade or jam ; to which add the juice of two 
lemons, a pint of water, one ounce and one half of 
gelatine, or one pint of calves' foot plain jelly. Stir 
together in a bowl on ice ; when nearly cold, stir in very 
quickly two thirds of a pint of whipped cream ; fill 
the mould ; put on ice, and serve. 

Cherries, strawberries, raspberries, currants, and goose- 
berries should be passed through a sieve. Peaches, 
pears, pine-apples, quinces may be cut in quarters or 
slices. Creams may be flavored to the taste. Beat 
the yolks of five eggs, with six ounces of sugar, until 
quite thick and white ; dissolve one ounce of isinglass 
and mix the yolks with a pint of milk, adding the 
decoction ; boil ten minutes, and flavor to your taste. 
When cool, set on ice, adding two or three glasses of 
liqueur, wine or brandy ; keep stirring it constantly, and 
when setting, add three fourths of a pint of well- 
whipped cream. Mix together, and put into moulds, 
on ice, till served. 

Charlotte Strawberry. Line a plain round mould 
with ripe strawberries, by burying the mould in ice to 
the rim, and dipping the berries in jelly, first covering 
the bottom with them cut in halves, afterwards putting 
up the sides, the jelly, cool, causes them to adhere ; 
when finished, put in a cream, as for Charlotte Russe. 
The cream must be nearly set when poured in, or it 
will run in between the fruit. 

Blanc Mange. To one quart of milk add one 
ounce of dissolved isinglass, a quarter of a pound of 
sugar ; flavor to your taste. Just bring the milk or 
cream to a boil, and strain it through flannel. Wine 
may be added. 

Jaune Mange. Three fourths of an ounce of isin- 
glass; one half pint of water; add the juice and rind 
of a lemon ; pint of white wine, and sugar to your 
tiste. When cool, add the beaten yolks of four eggs ; 



148 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

put it over the tire again until nearly boiling, then 
strain and put into moulds. 

Jaune Maxge. One ounce of isinglass to six gills 
of water; juiee of two lemons; two gills of wine; 
one of brandy ; one half pound sugar ; whites of six; 
or eight eggs ; yolks of four. Proceed as above. 

Calves' Foot Blanc Maxge. Prepare the feet as 
for jelly ; to one quart of stock add one pint of cream 
or milk ; sweeten and flavor to the taste ; bring it to a 
boil, then strain ; put it into mould, and set it on ice 
lor six or eight hours. 

Carrageen, or Moss Blanc Mange. Take as much 
moss as will till a coffee-cup ; put it into a bowl, and 
pour boiling water over if, and let ir stand about ten 
minutes: wash it out, and soak it over night in little 
cold water; put water and moss into three quarts o( 
milk the next morning, and boil ten minutes ; sugar 
and flavor to the taste. Strain it through a very fine 
sieve or bag, into moulds. 

Dutch Flummery. Dissolve two ounces of isinglass 
in one pint of water; add one pint of wine, juice o\' 
three lemons, and rind of one; sweeten to your taste : 
beat the yolks of seven eggs ; add them, and just boil it ; 
and strain into moulds. 

Velvet Cream. Half an ounce of isinglass dis- 
solved in a cup and a half of white wine, juice and 
rind of one lemon, and three quarters of a pound of 
sugar : simmer together ; strain it, and set it to cool ; 
add a pint and a half of rich cream, stirred well until 
quite cool ; put into moulds, and set on ice till served. 

A Birdsnest. Put some orange chips into the 
bottom of your dish ; put on some warm jelly, and 
let it cool; then add some eggs made of blanc mange, 
and pour over some jelly, so cold as not to dissolve the 
hlanc mange ; do not cover the eggs entirely. Orna- 
ment it with some shreds of lemon peel. 

Apple Float. Eight or ten apples, peeled, cored, 
strained, and stewed. After the apple is cool, add the 



SWEET DISHES. 149 

beaten whites of three eggs, the juice and peel of one 
Irinon ; sweeten to your taste, and beat these ingredi- 
ents to a froth ; beat the yolks of three eggs, with a 
pint of cream or milk, and sweeten; scald this, and 
when nearly cold, pour it into a glass dish, and put 
the apple on the top. 

An Excellent Trifle. Lay macaroons, plum 
cake, and pound cake, cut in small pieces and soaked 
in wine, in a dish ; then a thick layer of soft custard ; 
a thin layer of jelly, jam, or preserved fruit of any kind ; 
1 i 11 the dish with these alternate layers; then put on 
the top a whip. Strew colored sugar plums over, if 
you choose. 

Whip Syllabub. One quart of cream; three gills 
of white wine ; juice of one lemon ; whites of six or 
eight eggs. Sweeten it well, and whisk it thoroughly. 
Served in jelly glasses. 

Tipsy Cake. Cut a -sponge cake in slices ; blanch 
some almonds, and split them fine, and stick the cake 
full of them ; fill a deep glass dish with the slices, and 
pour over as much wine as the cake will absorb, and 
let it stand an hour; then pour over as much soft cus- 
tard as the dish will hold. 

Whip or Creams in Glasses. Put some jam or 
jelly into the bottom of jelly glasses, and pour in a 
whip or cream. This may be colored with a few 
spoonfuls of juice of any kind of fruit, of the color 
you wish. Beat up the whites of eggs to a strong 
Troth, coloring them or not, and sift fine sugar over 
them, and put it to the oven to brown a little. 

Arrowroot Blanc Mange. To three spoonfuls of 
Bermuda arrowroot add a quart of milk, a large spoon- 
lul of crushed sugar, rose water, vanilla, and a little 
salt ; wet the arrowroot with cold milk, and boil the 
rest ; when it boils up, stir in the arrowroot, and boil 
it up a minute or two. Put it into a mould. 

Cottage Blanc Mange. Beat the yolks of three 
eggs with two spoonfuls of crushed sugar, and beat 
13* 



150 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



the whites to a stiff froth ; put them into a dish which 
is to be sent to table, adding a quart of milk and fla- 
voring it, and stir these well together, and when mixed, 
stir in a spoonful and a half of rennet wine. In cold 
weather, warm the milk. This will thicken in a few 
minutes. Without eggs, this may be made very good. 

Custards. Pint of milk ; pint of cream ; sugar to 
your taste ; eight eggs ; boil a little cinnamon in the 
milk, and add to the rest ; do not boil the whole of the 
milk, as it makes the custard tough ; flavor to your 
taste. 

Macaroon Custards. Boil one quart of milk, and 
pour it, when cool, to the yolks of fourteen eggs, well 
beaten ; flavor it to your taste ; put it over the fire, 
and boil it thick, and sweeten it ; pour it into the dish 
you send it to table in, and place over the top a layer 
of macaroons ; beat the whites to a stiff froth, and 
put it over the cakes ; sift some sugar over, and put it 
into the oven to brown, for fifteen minutes. 

Almond Custards. One quart of cream ; one half 
pound of almonds, blanched and chopped very fine ; 
two spoonfuls of rose water ; sweeten to your taste ; 
eight eggs ; or beat the nuts to a paste with the rose 
water. 

Custards. One quart of milk ; flavor to the taste ; 
beat eleven eggs, leaving out five whites ; rub a lump 
of sugar over the rind of a lemon, and boil twenty 
minutes. 

Custards. Six gills of milk ; two of cream ; three 
spoonfuls of wine ; eight eggs, leaving out the whites 
of two. 

Soft Custards. Ten eggs, leaving out the whites 
of four ; one quart of cream ; stir well together, and 
sweeten and flavor to your taste. Set the pitcher info 
a pot of boiling water to cook the custard, and stir it 
constantly until as thick as cream. When taken from 
the fire, stir the custard until nearly cold. 

Three or four eggs to one quart of milk make very 
good custards. 



SWEET DISHES. 151 

Soft Custard. Boil a pint of milk or cream with 
four eggs, well beaten, with one quarter pound of sugar; 
flavor it to your taste ; strain it through a gauze sieve 
into a pitcher, and put the pitcher into boiling water, 
and let it boil until it thickens ; stir it constantly after 
it becomes warm ; if it curdles, it is spoiled. When 
cool, put it into glass custard-cups. 

French Custard. Sweeten with loaf sugar a quart 
of milk ; flavor it with peach or vanilla ; put it into a 
flat saucepan to boil, and beat to a froth the whites of 
eight eggs ; when the milk boils, lay on the whites in 
spoonfuls, until it hardens ; skim it off" carefully, and 
put it on a dish ; when all the whites are cooked, beat 
up the yolks, and pour gradually the milk upon them, 
stirring it well, till it thickens ; turn this over the 
whites, and ornament it with bits of colored marma- 
lade or jelly. 

Apple Custard. Make a nice sirup ; cut up your 
apples very fine, and boil them in the sirup, with a 
peel of a lemon, till perfectly transparent ; when done, 
put it into a large tumbler, or a mould, and the next 
day it will be solid ; turn it into a glass dish, and pour 
over it a rich, soft custard ; if you choose, put a whip 
and some bits of colored jelly on the top. 

Arrowroot Custard. Four eggs ; two spoonfuls 
of arrowroot ; four spoonfuls sugar ; one of rose water ; 
with a little cold milk. Mix these together ; have 
ready boiling one quart of milk, and pour these in. 
This is a convenient custard in winter season, when 
eggs are scarce and high. 

Apple Cream. Peel and core five large apples ; stew 
them till soft enough to pass through a sieve ; sweeten, 
and beat them with the whisked whites of five eggs. 
Serve, with cream poured over it ; or, take the yolks of 
five eggs, mix with one quart of milk, and boil it, and 
flavor it with lemon, and pour round the apple. 

Italian Cream. One ounce of isinglass, or gelatine, 
dissolved, added to one pint of cream ; a gill of brandy 



152 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

or two gills of wine ; juice of a lemon ; sugar to your 
taste. Flavor it with raspberry, strawberry, or pine- 
apple sirup. 

Lemon Cream. Juice of four lemons ; one half pint 
of rose water ; one pound of white sugar ; whites of 
seven eggs ; yolk of one. Squeeze the lemons, and 
add the sugar, with the rose water. Beat the eggs to 
a strong froth, and mix all together. Put it over the 
fire, stirring it one way till it becomes thicker than 
cream, or so that you can dip it up with a spoon. 
When cold, to be of the consistency of custard. Served 
in glass custards. 

Lemon Cream. Five large lemons; pare them as 
thin as possible ; steep them over night in a cupful of 
water with the juice. The next day, strain it and add 
six well-beaten eggs ; ten ounces of sugar. Put it over 
a slow fire, and stir it constantly one way. Skim it, 
and when rather warm, put it into glasses. 

Floating Island. The whites of five eggs, beaten 
with a little currant jelly, till they are quite thick and 
of a good color. Drop them by spoonfuls into a dish. 
Sweeten a pint of cream ; add rose water, and pour the 
cream in gently around these islands. 

Chocolate Puffs. One pound of sugar, two ounces 
of chocolate, pounded together and finely sifted ; then 
mix, with the whites of two eggs, well beaten to a froth. 
Drop this on buttered paper, and bake slowly. 

Kisses. Whites of six eggs ; one half pound sugar ; 
beat this to a froth and flavor it. Drop on paper, and 
bake slowly. 

Creme Plorabier. Grate the rind of a lemon into 
one pint of cream, with some mace boiled in the cream 
for fifteen minutes. Beat the yolks of six or eight 
eggs ; mix with it when cool. Strain and mix one 
half ounce of decoction of isinglass. Mould it. 

Lemon Honey. Take three large, ripe lemons, (or 
four or five small;) roll them under your hand on a 
table to increase the juice. Rub off, on a piece of loaf 



SWEET DISHES. 153 

sugar, the yellow rind or zest, scraping it up with a 
tea-spoon as you proceed, and put it aside on a saucer. 
Then squeeze the juice of the lemons through a strainer 
upon a pound of loaf sugar, and add the zest or grated 
rind. Cut up among the sugar a large quarter of a 
pound of fresh butter. Beat six eggs, as light as pos- 
sible ; then mix in, gradually, the sugar ajid lemon, stir- 
ring all very hard. Put these into a porcelain kettle, 
and let it boil till it becomes of the consistency of 
thick honey, stirring all the while. If the weather is 
warm, add a table-spoonful of arrowroot, or sifted flour. 
When done, put it into jars; cover them closely. It 
will keep good a month or more in a dry, cool place. 
If made in winter, it will continue good for two months. 

Orange Honey is made as above, except using six 
oranges of the largest size, and none of the peel. 

Coffee Cream. Boil a calf's foot in one quart of 
water, till it is boiled away to one pint ; clear it from 
sediment and fat. Or, take half an ounce of isinglass. 
Make a tea-cup of very strong- coffee ; clear it perfectly, 
and pour it to the jelly, adding a pint of good cream ; 
sweeten to your taste. Boil it up once, and pour into 
the dish. It should jelly, but not be stiff. 

Meringues. One pound of sugar ; whisk the whites 
of twelve eggs very stiff, and then mix well the sugar. 
With a dessert-spoon, lay them on white paper in the 
shape of eggs ; sift sugar thickly over them ; let them 
remain ten minutes ; shake off the superfluous sugar ; 
place them in the oven, to color a very little. When 
crisp, take off the papers by turning them upside down, 
and lift the papers from them. Dip your spoon into 
hot water, and clear out the best part of the interior ; 
dust them with sugar, and lay them in a cool, dry 
place. When served, fill them with whipped cream ; 
stick two together. Dress in pyramid, and serve. 
Should they stick to the paper, moisten it with a brush, 
with a little water on the back. 

Chantilly Cake, or Cake Triple. Bake a sponge 



154 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

cake in a mould, either of flour or rice. When cold, 
cut out the inner part, leaving about two inches from 
the edge, taking care not to cut through the bottom. 
Put in a thick custard, or any of the creams, and some 
bits of jam or jelly, and then a whip over the whole. 
If triples are made the day before used, they are far 
better, and cut more solid. 

Frozen Pudding. One quart of milk ; eight eggs ; 
and sweeten to your taste ; boil it as for soft custard ; 
when cold, place it in a freezing-pot to freeze. When 
partly frozen, have ready two ounces of currants, and 
two ounces of raisins, soaked in four glasses of mares- 
chino or brandy, with four ounces of citron, cut small, 
and stir these into the custard. Put it into a mould 
and finish freezing. A custard made of almonds, or 
flavored with wine or brandy, with the fruit, is nice. 

Frozen Pudding. Take a stale sponge cake, which cut 
in slices half an inch thick, and soak them well in wine 
or brandy. Put some raisins on the bottom of mould ; 
lay a slice or two over these ; more raisins and cake, till 
the mould is three quarters full. Make a custard, as 
for Russe, using one half the quantity of isinglass, and 
pour it lukewarm over your cake, which cover and 
bury in ice and salt. Let it stand at least two hours 
before using. If all the custard is not used, keep it on 
ice, and when the pudding is ready to serve, pour it over 
it, and sprinkle a few almonds, cut small, over it. 

A Salad of Oranges. Select four good oranges ; 
the thinnest rind are to be preferred. Cut them cross- 
wise into slices about half an inch thick. Place them 
in a dish, in a round, one piece resting a little on the 
other ; shake one ounce of sugar over, and pour over a 
table-spoonful of brandy. Slices of red orange, dressed 
alternately with yellow, looks very prettily. 

Salad of Strawberries, or Raspberries. A quart 
of berries ; sift over them a little sugar, in layers ; 
arranging them in a pyramid on the dish. Just before 
serving them, pour over two glasses of wine, brandy, or 
mareschino. 



SWEET DISHES. 155 

Peaches, or Apricots, should be quartered. Strew 
sugar over them, and then a little sherry or liqueur. 

Another Salad of Oranges. Take as many 
oranges as you choose ; peel them ; separate them 
partly ; put over as much sugar as the quantity of 
brandy you use will absorb. Make this in the morn- 
ing ; in the evening it will be delicious. 

Apple Cups. One pound of apples ; skin them and 
cut them in quarters ; make a little sirup of a pound 
of sugar ; boil the apples in it, with a little fresh lem- 
on peel. Put the apples into cups ; boil the sirup about 
fifteen minutes after the apple is taken out. When 
the apple is cold, turn it out from the cups, and put 
round some slices of oranges, with the sirup turned 
over the whole. 

Westminster Fool. Take a stale loaf of bread ; 
cut off the crust, and cut it into thin slices. Lay them 
in a deep dish, and pour over them some sweet wine, 
sufficient to moisten them. Make a soft custard of 
one quart of milk ; four eggs ; two spoonfuls of rose 
water. Sugar to your taste. When boiled, pour this 
over the bread. When cold, serve it. 

Mrs. Burns's Burnt Cream, or Creme Brulee. 
(French recipe.) Boil one pint of milk; one pint of 
cream ; powdered sugar, four ounces ; yolks of three 
eggs ; a small spoonful of burnt sugar ; reduce it one 
half; pass it through a sieve. Dish it, and let it cool. 

Fritters, very light, (pets of the nuns,) Beignets 
Soufles. (French recipe.) Mix in a saucepan a piece 
of butter the size of an egg ; four ounces of sugar ; a 
glass of water ; some fresh citron, grated. Boil these 
together; adding sufficient flour to make a stiff' and 
smooth dough. When boiled long enough, it will de- 
tach itself easily from the pan. Beat separately the 
yolks and whites of three eggs, and mix with the dough. 
Take it out into a dish, and with the handle of a 
spoon cut it into little pieces, which drop into the lard, 
which must be only lukewarm. Let them fry gently. 



156 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Drain them well on a linen cloth, and serve them 
sprinkled with sugar. 

Charlotte des Pommes, or Charlotte of Apples. 
Wash, pare, and core the apples ; cut them into small 
pieces. Dissolve in a saucepan four ounces of butter 
to a dozen of apples. Put in the apples, and stew 
them to a marmalade. A half pound of apricots stewed 
with them is a great improvement. Cut some slices 
of stale bread, spread them with butter, and line with 
them a well-buttered baking dish. Fill up with the 
apples, and cover with the bread. Put it to bake, and 
when the Charlotte is of a fine brown color, turn it out 
on a dish, and let the butter drain well. 

Another. In the place of the slices of bread, cakes 
of different kinds are to be cut up into slices sufficient- 
ly thick to line the interior of a mould. Either fill up 
with the marmalade, or make compartments with 
some of the slices, and filling them with different pre- 
serves ; covering the whole with slices. This may be 
decorated with sugar plums, or candied fruits. Place 
this Charlotte on a high dish, and surrounded with a 
border of pears, apples, and chestnuts, candied, or with 
all the other light Pattiseries which are served among 
the sweet entremets — dishes served up after the meats 
and before the desert. (French recipe.) 

Creme Fouettee, or Whipt Cream. Put a pinch 
of gum dragon, in powder, into a pint of cream ; add 
a little orange flower or rose water; a sufficient quan- 
tity of sugar. Whip this mixture with any whip stick. 
When the cream is all frothed, let it stand. With a 
skimmer, place it in a pyramidal form on a dish. 
Garnish it with shreds of citron, or orange sweetmeats. 
(French recipe.) 

Cream whipped with Straavberries, Raspberries, 
or Cherries. Press out the juice after crushing the 
berries ; pass it through a sieve ; add it to the cream 
when it is frothed, and beat it anew, and serve imme- 
diately. (French.) 



SWEET DISHES. 157 

Omelette Souffle. Mix the yolks of six eggs 
with four ounces of powdered sugar, and a spoonful 
of orange flower water. Whip, to a solid froth, the 
whites of eight or nine eggs, which mix with the yolks. 
Melt some butter in a spider, turn in the above mix- 
ture, and when it begins to turn yellow, put it on a 
dish kept hot, and place it in the oven. These entre- 
mets must be eaten as soon as cooked, as they soon 
fall. (French recipe.) 

Italian Custards. Twenty eggs, the whites beaten 
to a stiff" froth. Add the yolks of four eggs, beaten 
well with a handful of sugar. Bake this mixture on 
small papers, in an oven almost cold. Beat a pint of 
cream to a froth ; sweeten it to your taste ; flavor it 
with mareschino cordial or vanilla. Put it in a dish, 
and put over it the above cakes. 

Bavarois. Put the yolks of eight eggs in a sauce- 
pan ; add half a pound of sugar, and a tumbler and a 
half of cream ; stir it over fire. Take care to withdraw 
it as soon as it has become a little thick. Then put in 
half an ounce of isinglass dissolved in half a glass of 
water, and pass the whole through a sieve. Freeze it 
on the ice, taking care to remove it when sufficiently 
cold. Mix of the custard a sufficient quantity to fill a 
mould. Keep it on ice until served. Flavor it as 
you prefer, with lemon or vanilla. 

Sago Jelly. Take a pint of currant jelly, to which 
add a pint of water, the juice and grated rind of a 
lemon, and two or three sticks of cinnamon. To this 
put one half pint sago, and sweeten to your taste. 
Set it on the fire, and stir it until the sago is cooked. 
Then mould it and serve it with cream and sugar. 
The juice of any fruit can be used instead of jelly, 
as cranberries, &c. Of juice, take a quart, as it is 
diluted. 

Sago with Milk, (au lait.) One quart of milk, or 
half cream, to which put one half pint of sago and a 
blade or two of mace. Sweeten with sugar, and cook 
14 



158 THE AMERICAN MATRON 

as sago jelly. To be eaten with sugar and cream. 
Flavor it with peach or rose water, lemon or vanilla. 

To prepare Ice for icing. Break the ice very 
small ; put it in the bucket with salt. Put the cream 
into an ice-pot, and place it in the bucket, and put the 
ice and salt round it alternately, so as to touch every 
part, and press it down very tight. In about ten min- 
utes, open the pot and put a spoon in and stir it well. 
Be careful to stir in smoothly the part that has iced 
round the sides. Continue this until the whole is frozen 
into a stiff but smooth substance. You can then put 
it into moulds, pressing it down hard, and return it to 
the freezer, pouring off the water and adding fresh ice 
and salt. Saltpetre used with salt will facilitate 
freezing. When any fluid tends towards cold, the 
moving it quickly accelerates the cold ; and also, when 
any fluid is heating, stirring it will facilitate its boiling. 
If you use a patent freezer, you must keep the cream 
in motion until set with the dash. 

Water Ices are the juices of fruits, mixed with 
water and sweetened, and frozen as creams. 

Roman Punch. Make a strong punch with wine 
and brandy, sugar and lemon. Some liqueur is an im- 
provement. All ices should be strongly flavored, as 
freezing diminishes it greatly. Lemon flavor is ob- 
tained by rubbing some lumps of sugar over the rind 
of three large lemons. Squeeze the juice, strain it, 
adding as much sugar as the juice will absorb. 

Pine Apple. Cut it in slices ; sprinkle sugar over 
each slice, and let it stand for ten or twelve hours ; 
strain it, and make it very sweet. 

Raspberries or Strawberries. Put sugar to one 
quart of berries ; let them stand two or three hours ; 
mash them and strain the juice ; make very sweet. 

Vanilla. Use either the extract, or one bean, boiled 
for three hours in half a pint of milk. These are the 
flavorings for one gallon of cream. 

Ice made of Cream. To one quart of rich cream 



SAUCES. 159 

allow one half pound of sugar; flavor it, as above, to 
the taste, remembering the flavor and sugar must be 
strong, as in freezing one half is destroyed or lost. 

Made from Milk. To one quart of milk allow four 
or five eggs ; boil one half the milk, and turn it boiling 
on to the beaten eggs, stirring all the time ; then add 
the cold milk, sugar, and flavoring. 

Another. To two quarts of new milk, add, when 
boiling, one table-spoonful of arrowroot, wet with a 
little cold milk. When cold, add one quart of cream or 
milk; nearly one pound of sugar. If you wish very 
nice ice cream, beat the whites of six eggs to a froth, 
and stir in. 

Punch, for the Dinner Table, in place of Roman 
Ice. Two and one half tumblers of cut loaf sugar; 
six tumblers of water, cold ; and the peel of six lemons, 
cut thin. Let this remain undisturbed till the sugar is 
dissolved ; then add one bottle of Antigua rum, and 
just before sending it to table, plenty of cracked Lee. 



SAUCES. 

Under this name are used, at table, mixtures of 
various condimentary and alimentary substances. Salt 
and spices are essential ingredients of them, and vin- 
egar enters into the composition of several. These 
are seldom used in sufficient quantity to prove injurious 
by themselves ; though, by provoking the appetite, they 
induce the eating of many indigestible compounds. 

Few things require more care than making sauces 
or gravies ; the better way is, therefore, to prepare the 
sauces, or make gravies, before cooking those articles 
which demand equal care. 

Butter, and sauces containing eggs, should never 
boil. 

Apple Sauce. Pare, core, and quarter some apples ; 
stew them in a very little water, with a bit of lemon 



160 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

peel ; add sugar to your taste, with a bit of butter, 
when taken from the fire. Flavor with rose water, or 
chopped fresh lemon peel. 

Cranberry Sauce. Pour boiling water over the 
cranberries ; this instantly swells all the good ones, and 
makes it easy to pick out decayed ones. Stew the 
fruit, until soft, in a very little water. When soft, add 
sugar to your taste. 

Tomato Sauce. Skin the tomatoes ; stew them till 
tender; season with pepper; a bit of butter; a few 
cloves. Let these boil together. Strain it, and serve 
hot. 

Gravy Sauce. Take the inwards of a turkey ; boil 
them until they are soft, with a crust of bread, one 
onion, pepper, salt, and cloves. When cooked, strain 
it, and chop well the liver, or bruise it and mix it 
together with a little flour, and boil it up once. 

Oyster Sauce. Half a pint of oysters. Strain the 
liquor from them, and boil it with a cup of water, 
mace, pepper, and salt ; thicken with a bit of butter 
rolled in flour. Pour in the oysters with a glass of 
white wine. Let it boil up once. 

Melted, or Drawn Butter. Thicken half a pint 
of boiling water, and let it boil. Have ready four 
or five ounces of butter, cut into small pieces in a bowl, 
and when ready to send it to table, pour the boiling 
water over the butter, stirring all the time. You can 
use milk, or milk and water. If eggs are to be added, 
boil them hard and cut them up very fine, and put with 
the butter into the bowl. 

Sauce for Beefsteak. One bottle of claret wine ; 
one ounce of cloves ; one half ounce of mace ; one 
drachm of cayenne. In one month it is ready for use. 

For boiled Cod. Stew some oysters in their own 
liquor, with pepper, mace, and salt. Take out the 
spice, and add one glass of claret wine. Stir in the 
yolk of an egg to thicken it, and pour this over some 
butter. 



SAUCES. 161 

For Lobsters, and Salads. Two eggs boiled three 
minutes, and the yolks thoroughly rubbed up in a tea- 
cup ; add oil, gradually, until a thick paste is made. 
In another cup have a heaping tea-spoonful of mixed 
mustard ; one half a tea-spoon of salt ; a dash of pepper 
and sugar may be added, or not, to suit the taste ; add 
two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, or until there is about 
a tea-cupful of the mixture. Add this very gradually 
to the mixture of oil. Then oil and vinegar alternately, 
in small quantities, until sufficient dressing is made. 
After this is made, it should be so thick as to drop 
from the spoon in globules. Be careful in adding the 
vinegar, as the smallest quantity will thin the mixture. 
The great secret lies in mixing the oil and vinegar. 
Six eggs will be sufficient for a large lobster. 

For Lobster and Salads. Yolks of four eggs, 
boiled hard, and mashed to a smooth paste ; add oil to 
make half a tea-cup. Yolks of two eggs, unboiled; 
two tea-spoonfuls of salt; two great spoonfuls of 
made mustard, mixed together, and added to the other 
ingredients. Then add gradually, and alternately, a 
half flask of oil, with vinegar to the taste, stirring it 
well. 

Anchovy Sauce. Wash the anchovies ; put them 
into wine and water, with a little mace. When the 
anchovies are all dissolved, strain it; add a little butter, 
not too salt, mixed with flour, to thicken it ; add a few 
capers. Serve hot. 

Bread Sauce. Boil in a pint of water a slice of 
bread, a small onion, a little mace, salt, pepper. When 
the onion is tender, strain it, and rub the bread through 
a sieve. Then put it in a saucepan with a gill of 
cream ; a bit of butter. Stir till it boils. Instead of 
bread, you may thicken with cracker. 

Celery Sauce. Cut small some celery, and put it 

to boil with an onion in half a pint of water. When 

tender, add salt, pepper, a little milk, and boil it a 

quarter of an hour, and then pass it through a hair 

14* 



162 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

sieve with the back of a spoon. If you wish for celery- 
sauce, when celery is not in season, a quarter of a 
drachm of the seed will impregnate half a pint of 
sauce. 

Chestnut Sauce is often served up with roast turkey. 
Scald a pound of chestnuts ; skin them, and stew them 
slowly in some white stock, or water, seasoned with 
salt and mace, and thickened, for two hours. 

Mint Sauce for Lamb. Pick and wash some green 
mint; add, when minced, a table-spoon of the young 
leaves to four of vinegar, and put it into a sauce tureen 
with a tea-spoonful of brown sugar. 

Sweet Sauce for Venison or Rabbit. Put some 
currant jelly in a saucepan ; when melted, pour it into 
a sauceboat. Many send it to table without melting, 
in the jelly shape. 

Wine Sauce for Venison or Game. A quarter of 
a pint of port or claret wine, the same quantity of good 
stock, and a table-spoonful of currant jelly. Just boil 
it up, and serve hot. 

Lemon Sauce. Cut thin slices of lemon into very 
small dice, and boil them in the water thickened for 
melted butter; put it into the butter, and pour it hot 
over boiled fowls. 

White Cucumber Sauce. Peel two small, or one 
large cucumber ; cut in slices ; put in a stewpan with 
a tea-spoon of salt; one of sugar; a half one of pep- 
per. When tender, add a table-spoonful of flour, wet 
with two gills of milk. Boil, and serve hot. 

A good Beef Gravy. Take the drippings from the 
meat, turn it into a saucepan, and add a cup of boiling 
water; shake in a little browned flour and salt, and let 
it just boil, stirring all the time ; add a table-spoonful 
of soy, or tomato catchup. 

Gravy for Roast Mutton. Make the gravy as for 
roast beef, or add a few spoonfuls of currant jelly, and 
a cup of red wine. 
For Roast Venison. Take the shank of the venison ; 



SAUCES. 163 

crack the bone; a pound of beef; an onion, stuck 
full of cloves ; pepper and salt. Put these into two 
quarts of water, and boil gently three hours. Strain 
this and add to it the drippings from the venison, with 
a quarter of a pound of butter; two table-spoonfuls of 
flour ; a tea-cup of claret wine, and a tea-cup of currant 
jelly. Let this boil about five minutes. 

For Pork. Take out all the fat from the pan or 
kitchen when about half cooked, and make a gravy 
with the drippings. 

For Roast Ham. Pour off all the fat ; add a cup 
of water to the drippings; a little flour; and just boil 
it up. 

The following directions for preparing a dressing for 
salads may be useful, especially to those acquainted 
with the competency of the author to advise in all 
matters of taste as well as science, (Rev. Sidney 
Smith,) who was said to have as much, if not more 
knowledge of all the other ologies, as of theology : — 

For dressing- a Salad. 

" Two large potatoes, passed through kitchen sieve, 
Smoothness and softness to the salad give ; 
Of mordant mustard add a single spoon — 
Distrust the condiment that bites too soon ; 
But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault, 
To add a double quantity of salt : 
Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown, 
And twice with vinegar, procured from town ; 
True flavor needs it, and your poet begs 
The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs ; 
Let onions' atoms lurk within the bowl, 
And, scarce suspected, animate the whole. 
And lastly, in the flavored compound toss 
A magic spoonful of anchovy sauce. 
O ! great and glorious ! O ! herbaceous treat ! 
'Twould tempt a dying anchorite to eat ; 
Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul, 
And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl." 



164 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

White Sauce for Game. Take a slice of bread, 
and stew it in cream or new milk, and pass it through 
a sieve ; one small onion may be boiled in it, but must 
be taken out when served ; add a small piece of butter ; 
a very little pepper. Add, if you choose, a few dried 
crams, done very crisp and brown. 

Sauce for Tripe. Two table-spoonfuls of drawn 
butter ; one tea-spoon of made mustard, with two tea- 
spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Mix these well together, 
adding vinegar to your taste. 



PUDDING SAUCES. 

Cold Sauce. To six spoonfuls of crushed sugar 
put four of butter ; work the butter to a cream, adding 
the sugar. Put it on your plate in a pyramidal shape, 
and with the tip of the bowl of a small tea-spoon make 
gashes over it, that it may resemble a pine-apple ; grate 
nutmeg over it, and flavor it with wine or brandy. 

Hot Pudding Sauce. Beat the sugar and butter 
together till it froths and is light colored. Then thicken 
a little boiling water with flour ; stir this into the sugar 
and butter, adding wine or brandy, and nutmeg, or 
rose water, lemon, or vanilla. Put it again to the fire 
to just boil up once, stirring carefully, and serve hot. 



FORCEMEATS. 

Exact rules cannot be given, but the following ob- 
servations may be useful, and practice will soon impart 
skill in mixing stuffings to the taste. Whether in the 
shape of forcemeat, stuffing, or for patties, it makes 
great difference in the eating and appearance of the 
dish if properly compounded. No one flavor should 
predominate ; yet, if several dishes are served the same 
dav, there should be a marked difference in the taste 



FORCEMEATS. ] 0*5 

of the forcerfteats, as well as of the gravies. It should 
be consistent enough to cut with a knife, but not dry 
or heavy. 

Forcemeat Ingredients. 

Cold fowl, or veal, Oysters, anchovies, lobster, 
Scraped ham, Savory, marjoram, 

Beef suet, Thyme, yolks of eggs, hard boiled, 

Crums of bread,- Cayenne, onion, black pepper, 
Parsley, Cloves, soy or catchup, curry. 

White pepper, 
Salt, nutmeg, 

Yolk and whites of eggs, well beaten, to bind the mix- 
ture. 

The first column contains the article of which the 
forcemeat may be made, without any striking flavor; 
and to these may be added any from the second column, 
to vary the taste. 

A common Stuffing. An equal quantity of bread 
crums and suet ; a little salt; marjoram ; pepper ; mix 
with egg, well beaten. Instead of suet, you may use 
butter and thyme, or sage. 

Brain Cakes. Put the brains in a bowl, beat them 
together, and put in three milk biscuit, pounded and 
sifted ; three eggs ; a little salt, and sage. Mix all well 
together, and fry in butter just before the head is served. 

Forcemeat Balls. One pound of mutton, or veal, 
and an equal quantity of scraped salt pork ; three 
eggs ; one spoonful of salt ; pepper ; three soft crackers, 
pounded. Mix together, and fry them in butter. 

Forcemeat Balls. An equal quantity of lean 
meat and crackers ; a little suet, lemon peel, cloves, sweet 
herbs, pepper, and eggs, with a little curry, or catchup. 
Roll this into balls, and fry brown, in butter or lard. 

For Fish. Chop some of the meat of lobster very 
fine ; a little cayenne, mace, salt, and pepper, with two 
table-spoonfuls of bread crums ; a little butter, and two 
eggs, beaten. Make into balls and fry brown, or stuff 



166 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



any fish with the above. Instead of ldbster, vary by 
using oysters or celery. 

Little Eggs for Real, or Mock Turtle Soup. 
Mash the yolk of three hard-boiled eggs, and make 
into a paste with the yolk of a raw one, and throw 
them into boiling water for two minutes. 

Garnishing for Dishes, and Accompaniments for 
Meats, Sfc. 

Rice Edging for a Curry, Fricassee, or Hash. 
Boil two tea-cups of rice until tender, and season with 
a little butter, but not to a mash. Put it round the 
inner edge of the dish, to the height of three or four 
inches. Smooth it with the back of a spoon, and rub 
it over with the yolk of an egg, and put it into the 
oven for three or four minutes, to brown. Serve the 
meat in the middle. Rice boiled in this way, spread 
over a pie of cold meat for a crust, an inch thick, and 
browned, is nice. 

Potato Edging. Boil some potatoes ; mash them 
to a smooth paste ; add a little butter, milk, and salt. 
Mix these well together, and form an edging as above 
for hashed veal, beef, or mutton. 

For Roast Beef. A Yorkshire pudding, and 
scraped horse radish. 

For Boiled Corned Beef. Beets, cabbage, parsnips, 
carrots, and greens ; garnish the dish with sliced beets 
and carrots, alternately. 

For Veal. Garnish the dish with lemons, sliced. 
Send scraped horse radish, in a separate dish, to table. 

Calf's Head. Put round the dish slices of lemon, 
and hard boiled eggs, sliced. 

Corned Leg of Pork. Parsnip and carrots, sliced 
and laid around the dish. 

Boiled Mutton. Drawn butter, with capers or nas- 
turtions, carrots and beets, around the dish. 

Boiled Fish. Lemon and hard boiled eggs, 
sliced. 



FISH. 167 

Potatoes are nice and almost necessary with all 
meats. With poultry, they are nicer mashed. Sweet 
potatoes and tomatoes are good with all meats, but. 
especially with roasts. Onions, squash, cucumbers, 
asparagus, peas, string-beans, are most appropriate 
with roast meats. Carrots, parsnips, cabbage, greens, 
turnips, and beets are eaten with boiled meat. Corn is 
eaten either with roasted or boiled meat. Mashed tur- 
nip is good with roast pork ; apple sauce should be 
served with roast pork : cranberry sauce with beef, 
poultry, veal, and ham ; currant jelly with roast mut- 
ton and game. Pickles are served with all meats ; 
capers, or nasturtions, with drawn butter, for boiled 
lamb or mutton. 

Drawn butter, with eggs, for boiled, salt, and fresh 
fish. Dip, or fried salt pork, with salt fish. Celery, 
chopped fine, and put into a salad mixture, is a very 
pleasant accompaniment for salt fish. 

Celery, or oyster sauce, for boiled poultry and game. 
Fried bread cruras should be sent to table with roast 
partridge, quail, wild turkey, or any kind of game. 



FISH. 

This class of animals produces an almost endless 
variety of food for man. It furnishes a greater number 
of eatable species than any other class. Some nations 
derive their chief support from it. The inhabitants of 
the most northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, 
where but few nutritive plants are found, are obliged 
to live almost exclusively on fish. 

The Esquimaux prepare fish in the same manner as 
did some of the Babylonian tribes of old. It is dried 
in the sun, beaten fine and sifted, then made into 
small cakes, or baked as bread. Fish also constituted 
the principal article of food among the Egyptians. It 
was dried in the sun, and eaten without any other 
preparation. 



168 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Fish-flesh contains more water than the flesh of 
either quadrupeds or birds. 

In many fishes, the flesh is mixed with or covered 
by oily or fatty matter. This is more abundant in the 
thinner parts than in the thicker. The thinnest part 
of the salmon is preferred by epicures. In the cod, 
and some others, the liver is the only part which con- 
tains fat ; the flesh being quite devoid of it. The 
white, curdy matter, seen between the flakes of boiled 
fresh fish, is the coagulation of the watery juices inter- 
vening between the layers of the flesh. 

The digestibility of fish varies considerably in differ- 
ent species. The oily fishes are more difficult to digest, 
and, in consequence, are unfit for invalids. Fish is 
rendered less digestible by frying. It is, in any form, 
less satisfying to the appetite than the meat of either 
quadrupeds or birds. As it contains more water, it is 
obviously less nourishing. " The jockeys at New- 
market, in England, who waste themselves in order to 
reduce their weight, are never allowed meat when fish 
can be obtained." 

One ill effect, ascribed to a fish diet, is the production 
or aggravation of diseases of the skin. By drying, 
salting, smoking, and pickling, the digestibility of fish 
is greatly impaired ; though, in some cases, their sa- 
vory, stimulating, and even nutritive qualities may be 
increased. The flesh of shell fish is not easily 
digested ; but they form very agreeable and moderately 
nutritive articles of food. Lobsters and crabs disagree 
with some persons. These fish form their shells from 
the highly calcareous juices of their bodies. The 
alkaline nature of these juices renders vinegar a desira- 
ble condiment to neutralize it. The male lobster is 
preferred for eating. They are distinguished by the 
narrowness of their tails. The females are preferred 
for sauce and soups, on account of the coral and spawn. 
The former, when boiled, is a bright red, and is useful 
for garnishing ; the latter gives both color and flavor. 



FISH. 



169 



They are known by their broader tails and smaller 
claws. The meat of the lobster is principally in the 
tail and claws ; that from the claws being more tender, 
delicate, and easily digestible. It is a popular idea, 
that the part of the lobster called " the old lady in her 
arm chair " proves injurious when eaten. This part is 
the bony teeth of the stomach, and, being indigestible, 
should not be eaten. The bag which contains " the 
old lady " is the stomach. Of the crab, the same 
observations may be made. It is inferior, in delicacy 
of flavor and tenderness, to the lobster. 

The oyster holds the highest rank among foods of 
this class. It was greatly admired by the luxurious 
Romans, and has continued a favorite among all na- 
tions ever since. It furnishes a delicious article of 
food. It is more digestible when raw than when 
cooked. It is customary to swallow the oyster whole 
when eaten raw ; but when cooked, the beards or gills 
are sometimes removed. 

To select Fish. 

Sea Bass, Black Fish, and Blue Fish, are very 
excellent of their kinds, and can sometimes be found 
in our markets. 

Salmon. If fresh, the flesh is of a silvery pink color, 
the scales bright, and the whole fish stiff. When first 
taken from the water, there is a whiteness (curd) 
between the flakes, which gives great firmness ; by 
keeping, this melts, and the fish is more rich. This 
fish can be crimped like the cod, that it may be flaky 
and retain the curd. The salmon is the only fish 
which improves by keeping, without the addition of 
salt or sugar. It is in season from April to August. 

Haddock and Cod. The gills should be very red ; 
the fish very thick at the neck ; the flesh white and 
firm ; and the eyes fresh. When flabby, they are not 
good. They are in season from the beginning of De- 
cember till the end of April. 
15 



170 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Crimped Cod. As soon as the fish is taken from 
the water, it is gashed on both sides, and salt thrown 
in. This process renders the fish firmer, and gives a 
better flavor. 

Shad. If good, they are white and thick. If too 
fresh, they eat tough, but must not be kept above two 
days without salting. The shad appears at Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, in January ; later at Norfolk, Vir- 
ginia; in the Hudson River, in April; and in the 
Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers, in May. 

Halibut varies in size from ten to forty pounds. If 
good, they are white and firm, and the belly of a cream 
color. In season from February to July. 

Mackerel. The whole fish must be stiff and firm. 
They are so delicate a fish that they keep worse than 
any other. Their season is May, June, and July, to 
October. 

Salmon Trout are a fine flavored fresh-water fish, 
and should be killed and dressed as soon as caught. 
The gills should be red and hard to open ; the eyes 
bright, and the body stiff. 

Pickerel and Smelts are in season all the winter 
months. Both pickerel and smelts should be stiff and 
firm, and the eyes bright. 

Perch. Apply the same rules as to the preceding. 

Lobster is in season from April to August. 

Fresh Cod Sounds are in season during the winter. 

Oysters. Of these, there are several. kinds ; the 
larger ones are highly esteemed. When alive and 
well, the shell is close. They should be eaten soon 
after they are opened, the flavor becoming poor if 
kept long. 

The same rules apply to the clam. 

Crabs. The heaviest are the best, and those of 
middling size are sweetest ; if light, they are watery. 
When in perfection, the joints of the legs are stiff, and 
the body has an agreeable smell. The eyes look dead 
and loose when stale. 



FISH. 171 

Ovsters and Clams cast their spawn in the month 
of May, after which they are sick, and unfit for food. 
In July they begin to improve, and in August they 
are sound. Hence the origin of the saying, that an 
oyster is never good except when there is an r in the 
month. 

Epicures consider it important to boil fish in salt 
water. Lobsters must be put alive into boiling water, 
and be boiled from thirty to forty minutes. Allow a 
large spoonful of salt to every quart of water in which 
they are boiled. Lobsters should not be eaten after 
being boiled more than eighteen hours. Fish from 
ponds are improved in flavor by soaking in strong 
salt and water. Fish, if frozen, may be kept a num- 
ber of days. 

Fish should be carefully cleaned, and, when boiled, 
some salt should be put into the water. Fish should 
be put into cold water to boil, and allowed to cook 
very gently, or the outside will break before the inner 
part is cooked. 

Small fish, nicely fried, covered with eggs and crums, 
make a handsomer dish than if served plain. Fish 
should be garnished with horse radish, parsley, and 
lemon. If fish is to be fried or broiled, it should be 
wrapt in a cloth after it is cleaned and washed. When 
dry, wet it with an egg, if to be fried, and dip it into 
bread crums or Indian meal ; if done a second time 
with the egg and bread, the fish will look better ; then, 
having a spider on the fire, with a large quantity of 
boiling lard or fat, plunge the fish in, and let it fry mid- 
dling quick, until the color is a fine brown yellow. Take 
it up carefully, and put it on the under side of a sieve to 
drain. To be fried in perfection, fish should be of a 
fine yellow color, with every crum perfectly distinct, 
and the fish entirely free from grease. The same drip- 
ping, with a little fresh, will serve a second time. 
Butter gives a bad color to all fried articles ; oil fries 
the finest; it is, however, more expensive. 



172 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Garnish with a fringe of raw curled parsley, or pars- 
ley fried. 

If the fish is to be broiled, it must be seasoned, 
floured, and put on the gridiron, which, when hot, 
should be rubbed with a bit of suet, to prevent the fish 
from sticking. It must be broiled over a clear fire, that 
it may not taste smoky ; and not too near the coals, 
that it may not be scorched. Do not attempt to turn 
it, like steaks, with a knife and fork, but lay an old 
dish upon it, and hold it on with one hand, while you 
invert the gridiron with the other. 

The liquor of oysters should be strained before 
using, as there are often small pieces of shells in it. 

Salmon, boiled. Clean it carefully, but do not let 
it soak in water. Rub a little salt into the body, flour 
a cloth, pin up the fish tightly, and put it into boiling 
water. A piece that weighs ten pounds will be suf- 
ficiently cooked in three fourths of an hour after begin- 
ning to boil. If underdone, it is very unwholesome. 

To broil Salmon. Cut slices an inch thick, and 
season with pepper and salt ; broil them very quick, 
and when served, rub butter over each slice. 

Baked Salmon. Stuff the fish or not with force- 
meat ; lay it on a grating, into a baking pan ; put strips 
of salt pork over it, to flavor it. Put nearly a pint of 
water, with some salt, into the pan. Bake it from one 
hour to one and one half hours. Baste it with butter 
and flour. Salmon is drier cooked in this manner than 
boiled, and the flavor is richer, not being lost in the 
water. 

If you have any left from dinner, pour over it some 
vinegar, in which a few cloves and a little allspice has 
been boiled. Cover it well, and in twelve hours it is 
fit to eat. 

Cod is generally boiled whole ; but a large head and 
shoulders contain all the fish proper to help to ; the 
thinner parts being overdone and tasteless before the 
thick are ready to be served. The whole fish, however, 



FISH. 173 

may be purchased, at times, more reasonably. The 
lower parts, if sprinkled with a little salt and sugar, 
and being hung up, will make a nice dish in one or 
two days. 

Cod's head and shoulders will. eat much finer if 
a little salt is rubbed down the bone, and along the 
thick part, even if it be cooked the same day. Flour 
a cloth, tie it up well, and put it on in cold water, into 
which put a handful of salt. 

Broiled Scrod. Take a small cod and split it, or 
the tail of a large one ; sprinkle it with salt, and let 
it remain over night. In the morning, wash off the 
salt, and wipe it dry. Rub a little lard over the grid- 
iron, and put on the fish, skin side down, and let it 
broil gently one half hour, then turn it over, to brown 
the other side. When served, rub a little butter and 
a little pepper over it. Serve hot. 

Baked Cod or Haddock. Fill the interior with a 
nice stuffing, and sew it up, and truss it with the tail 
in its mouth. Proceed as with salmon, baked. 

Crimped Cod. Boiled, baked, broiled, or fried, as 
above. 

Fried Cod or Haddock. Cut the fish in pieces 
about a good size to help at table; wash, and wipe 
them dry, and roll them in sifted Indian meal. Try 
out some slices of salt pork ; remove the pork, and 
add some lard. When hot, put in the fish and fry it 
of a nice yellow brown. Put the fried pork around 
the dish. 

Curry of Cod. Make it of slices of cod or haddock 
that has been crimped or salted a day, to make it firm. 
Fry it brown, with some onions, and pour over it some 
good gravy, or water mixed with some curry powder 
and flour, a little butter, three or four spoonfuls of cream 
or milk, and some salt. 

Chowder. Try out some slices of pork, crisp, and 
then brown well some two or three onions. Cut your 
fish into three or four pieces, not slices. Pour over 
15* 



174 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

the onions and pork some milk or milk and water, with 
a little salt and pepper. Let this boil up, then put in 
the fish carefully, with some fresh tomatoes or tomato 
catchup. Cover it well, and let it simmer about one 
half hour. Have ready some crackers, split and swelled 
in cold water ; lay them over the fish, and cover again 
for another fifteen or twenty minutes. Turn around 
your pot very often, that it may not burn. When 
cooked, remove the crackers, and with a slice and 
spoon take up each piece of fish unbroken, laying it 
on the dish, to be served in its natural form. Pour the 
liquid into the tureen, to be served hot. The crackers 
can be served on a separate dish, or put into tureen. 
Some persons like the flavor of mace and cloves, and 
some, claret wine. 

Halibut. If you wish to boil it, purchase either 
the tail piece or the next cut. Rub a little salt over it, 
and lay it in cold water a while. Wash and scrape it 
very clean, and tie it in a floured cloth, and put it in 
cold water, with salt in it, to boil. A piece weighing 
six pounds will need to cook thirty minutes after it be- 
gins to boil. If you have any left, serve it as salmon. 

The nape, corned, of the halibut, is the best piece to 
broil. A slice through the body an inch thick, if 
sprinkled with salt for two hours before cooking, will 
broil without breaking, and be excellent. When served, 
spread butter and pepper over it. 

Broiled Shad. This fish should not be stale. 
Scale and split it down the back ; then carefully wash 
and dry it. Sprinkle it with salt, cayenne, and black 
pepper, with a little sugar. Let it lay four or five 
hours ; wash off the spices, and broil it for half an 
hour. 

Salt Fish. Dun fish is to be preferred. To cook 
a fish whole, put it into the fish kettle, covered with 
water a little warm. The next morning, wash it clean 
from the water ; wash out the kettle ; put the fish in 
again, with as much water as at first, and put it over 



FISH. 175 

the fire to scald, not boil. An hour before dinner time, 
take up the fish into a pan of cold water, wash off' the 
skin and fins ; clean the kettle again, and put back the 
fish into warm water. Let it just' come to a boil, but 
keep it boiling hot for thirty or forty minutes. Serve 
it on a napkin, on a fish dish. 

To mince Fish. Chop the fish very fine, after it is 
cooked ; mash half as much more potatoes boiled, as 
fish ; fry out some pork ; mix potatoes and fish to- 
gether, and put it into the hot fat ; stir it up well, add- 
ing a little hot water and a bit of butter ; stir it all 
well together, until it gets very hot; let it stand until 
it browns a little, and serve hot, or mince the fish as 
above, with mashed potatoes ; make it into small, 
round, flat cakes, and fry them brown on both sides, in 
fat or butter. An egg or two, mixed with a little milk, 
instead of water and butter, is a great improvement. 

Boiled Mackerel. Put the fish into separate 
cloths, and boil them twenty minutes. 

Broiled Mackerel. Split and sprinkle with salt 
and pepper ; broil them over a quick fire ; put the skin 
side first to the fire. When served, rub over butter, 
and send them to table hot. 

Roasted Mackerel. Stuff' them as codfish, and 
bake them about one half hour. Small fish may be 
fried as codfish. 

Fried Smelts. This fish is very delicate, and re- 
quires care in cleaning : merely pull out the gills, and 
the inside will come out with them ; wipe them dry 
and lightly after they have lain in salt and water 
nearly an hour ; dip them in flour, or have ready two 
or three eggs beaten up in a plate, and some cracker 
pounded in another ; dip the fish into the egg, and 
then roll them in the cruras, and put them into boil- 
ing fat. Fry them brown, and serve hot. 

Perch, fried. Cut off the heads ; prepare them 
the same as smelts. They will take a longer time to 
fry than smelts, being larger and thicker. Fresh cod's 
tongues are nice cooked in the same way. 



176 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

To toast Tautog or Black Fish. Clean it well ; 
put in a nice stuffing, and sew it up well ; brush it 
over with egg, and cram it well ; lay over it some 
strips of pork, after you have put it into a pan,, with a 
pint of water or port or claret wine ; a little salt, pep- 
per, and an onion sliced ; let it bake slowly for one to 
one and one half hours ; baste it often with the wine 
and water; when cooked, thicken the gravy with a 
little flour, and just boil it once ; pour over the fish. 
Cider may be used instead of wine, with a little wal- 
nut or tomato catchup. 

Eels. After they are skinned, pour boiling water 
over them. To fry them, cut them in pieces about six 
inches long, and fry as codfish. 

Baked Eels. Cut them in pieces six inches long ; 
lay them into a pan ; sprinkle over them pepper and 
salt, with some few pieces of butter ; dredge them 
with flour ; pour in a little water, and bake them half 
an hour ; when they are dished, make a gravy in the 
pan they were cooked in, with the addition of a little 
more butter, flour, and catchup ; pour it over the fish ; 
add either wine or cider, and stew them. 

Trout are fried as perch, roasted as salmon. 

Shell Fish — Stewed Oysters. Wash well a 
gallon of oysters out pf the liquor, and let it stand ten 
minutes ; strain it through a fine sieve into a sauce- 
pan ; add a third as much water as liquor, and a quar- 
ter of a pound of butter, braided with flour or bread 
crums, and stir well ; put in a little pepper and mace, 
and boil it up ; put in the oysters ; do not boil again, 
but keep them hot, while you toast eight crackers ; 
split and butter them a little ; put them into the dish, 
and pour over the oysters. Some people like a glass 
of white wine, or half a glass of vinegar added. 

Scalloped Oysters. Put the oysters alternately 
with bread crums, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and few pieces 
of butter in a buttered dish ; pour over the whole a 
cup of the liquor, and a little white wine. Put it into 
the oven for forty minutes to brown. 



pisfi. 177 

Fried Oysters. Take large oysters; wash them 
elean out of tlie liquor, and wipe them dry ; dip them 
in <'gg*, and then in crams, and fry them in hot lard. 

Frikd Oysters. To one peck of oysters take six 
eggs ; beat the whites to a froth ; add a little salt to 
the yolks, which beat well, and mix with the whites ; 
add half a pint of milk, and thicken with Hour for a 
batter ; drop in the oysters, and take out one with 
some batter in a spoon ; fry in hot lard. 

Stewed Lobster. Cut the meat of the body and 
claws up fine, and put it into a saucepan with a little 
water, mace, pepper, and a bit of butter rolled in flour. 
Rub the coral smooth with a little butter, and add this 
to stew about ten or fifteen minutes. When ready to 
serve, add a little white wine or vinegar. This must 
not be added until sent to table, as the lobster will 
destroy the acidity of the vinegar in a short time. 

Crabs, hot. Pick out the meat ; clear the shell 
from the head; then put in the meat, with a little nut- 
meg, salt, pepper, butter, bread crurns, and set it into 
the oven. Put in a little vinegar when served. 

Dressed Crab, cold. Mix the flesh with a little oil, 
vinegar, salt, and pepper. 

Clams are cooked as oysters, fried, or made into 
soup. 

Tongues and Sounds. Soak them, over night, if 
very salt ; scrape them thoroughly, and boil them fif- 
teen minutes in milk and water. They may be fried 
in batter, as oysters. 

Fish Cakes. If there should be any fish left from 
dinner, pick out carefully all bones, and skin, then put 
it into warm water for a short time. Put it into a 
mortar, and beat it very fine, and mix with it about an 
equal quantity of mashed potato. Season it, if neces- 
sary, with salt and pepper, adding a little butter. Make 
it up into round fiat cakes, and fry brown on both 
sides, in butter, fat, or lard. 

Fresh Halibut or Cod will make excellent cakes. 



178 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



SOUPS. 

Under this head, I quote the high authority of Lie- 
big; nothing that I could offer would carry the weight 
of his satisfactory experiments. The result should be 
familiar to every housekeeper. 

" The investigations of Liebig into ' the constituents 
of the juices of flesh ' furnish some results belonging 
to the technical department of chemistry, in so far as 
it treats of the changes which cooking effects in meat, 
and of the relation which animal food bears to analo- 
gous dietetic articles, determining, as it does, at the 
same time, experimentally, the nature of broth. 

" The view that broth derives its nourishing properties 
essentially from the dissolved gelatine — an opinion 
which has been frequently discountenanced in practice 
— is shown by this investigation to be completely un- 
tenable. The gelatine imparts no taste to broth, and 
forms by far too insignificant a portion to allow of its 
nutritious properties being dependent upon it. Chopped 
beef or veal, previously exhausted in the cold, when 
boiled for five hours, yielded to the broth, the former one 
half per cent, and the latter one and one half per cent, of 
soluble constituents, of which gelatine formed, at most, 
but one half. On the contrary, this investigation con- 
firms the view of Proust, that the peculiar constituents 
of broth exist ready formed in the flesh, and are by no 
means merely products of the process of ebullition. 
The residue of the chopped muscular flesh of different 
animals, as of the fox and ox, after having been ex- 
hausted in the cold, cannot be distinguished the one 
from the other; air the peculiarities of the flesh, 
especially its flavor, depending entirely upon the solu- 
ble constituents which are found in the broth. 

" The researches of Liebig offer a simple and conve- 
nient method of preparing, in a few minutes, a broth 
of the highest nutritive properties. Finely chopped 



soups. 179 

lean beef is mixed with an equal weight of cold water, 
and left, if possible, to macerate for a short time, and 
the whole then slowly heated to ebullition ; after 
gently boiling for some minutes, the clear broth sepa- 
rates from the coagulated albumen and from the 
muscular fibre, which has now assumed a sinewy ap- 
pearance. After straining, it requires only to be sea- 
soned and slightly colored with burnt onions, or with 
caramel, (burnt sugar.) The coloring of broth is noth- 
ing but a concession to the common prejudice, which 
cannot, however, be well dispensed with. 

" By evaporation in a water bath, or at a still lower 
temperature, the broth becomes spontaneously colored, 
and leaves behind a brown extract, possessing a deli- 
cate odor of roasted meat ; it may be preserved for 
any length of time. This extract, when dissolved in 
about thirty parts of water, and flavored with salt, 
yields, at any moment, a most excellent broth. The 
advantage of extract of flesh for the nutrition of" in- 
valids, its use in hospitals, or in field service, as well 
as in domestic economy, is sufficiently obvious. We 
see, likewise, that bone broth, broth tablets, &c, being 
preparations entirely different from a true broth from 
flesh, cannot enter into competition with it as articles 
of food. 

" As an article of commerce, ' extract of flesh ' bears 
somewhat too high a price; it appears, however, to 
offer a new source of profit to the inhabitants of the 
different settlements of America and Australia, who 
might, successfully, prepare it from their cattle at a 
cheaper rate, and send it to the markets of our crowded 
populations. 

" As to the cooking of meat, it follows, that to pre- 
pare, by boiling, a rich broth, and at the same time a 
savory bouiili, is perfectly impossible. After preparing 
broth according to the above direction, the meat which 
remains is perfectly unpalatable, tasteless, and tough, 
and as dissimilar as possible to the boiled beef of our 



180 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



tables. If, on the other hand, it is desired to leave in 
the boiled meat the greatest amount of nutrition and 
flavor, it must be at once plunged into boiling water. 
If the temperature, after some minutes, be reduced 
to about 70° (Centigrade,) equal to 158° Fahrenheit, 
by the addition of cold water, and the water main- 
tained at that temperature until the meat is thorough- 
ly cooked, all the conditions necessary for this purpose 
will have been fulfilled. 

" If it be perfectly established that pure fleshy fibre 
— viewed independently of the constituents of the 
juice — instead of being softened by boiling is con- 
verted into a horny or sinewy mass, it is evident that 
this change is prevented by two different means in the 
ordinary mode of cooking meat. In the first place, by 
the temperature in the interior of the piece of meat 
never reaching the boiling heat; and, in the second 
place, by its being, nevertheless, sufficiently high to 
coagulate the albumen, which surrounds, and to a 
certain extent, protects the fibres. The temperature in 
the interior of the meat is not only sufficient to coagu- 
late the albumen, but must attain even the point 
necessary for the coagulation of the coloring of the 
blood. 

" The investigation of Liebig exhibits the pro- 
cess of salting meat under a perfectly new aspect. 
The brine which meat and dry salt form together 
amounts from one third to one half of the juice of the 
meat, and contains the chief constituents of concen- 
trated broth. The brine presents an acid reaction, and 
owing to the quantity of albumen present, coagulates 
when boiled ; it contains, moreover, phosphoric acid, 
lactic acid, a large amount of potassa, creatinine, and 
doubtless also creatine. There can be no doubt, there- 
fore, that salting meat diminishes the nutritious prop- 
erties of meat, by the amount of constituents which 
pass into the brine ; hence the explanation of the well- 
known injurious effects on health produced by the 
continual consumption of salt meat." 



soups. 181 

The delicate and proper blending' of savors is the 
chief art of good soup-making. Be sure to skim the 
grease off' the soup when it first boils, or it will not 
become clear. Throw in a little salt to bring up the 
scum. Remove all the fat. Be careful to simmer 
softly, and never allow a soup to boil hard. 

Put your meat into cold water, and let it grow warm 
slowly. This dissolves the gelatine, allows the albu- 
men to disengage, the scum to rise, and the heat to 
penetrate to the centre of the meat. But, if the meat 
be put into hot loater, or the soup over a hot fire to 
boil, the albumen coagulates, and the external surface 
of the meat is hardened ; the water is prevented from 
penetrating to the interior, and the nutritious part of 
the meat from disengaging itself. The broth will be 
without flavor, and the meat tough, if so managed. 
Allow two table-spoonfuls of salt to four quarts of 
soup, where there are many vegetables ; and one and 
one half, where there are few. One quart of water to 
one pound of meat is a good rule. 

Soup made of meat not previously cooked is as 
good, perhaps better, on the second day, if heated to 
the boiling point. If more water is needed, use boiling 
water ; as cold or lukewarm spoils the soup. Some 
persons have thought potato water to be unhealthy. 
Do not, therefore, boil potatoes in your soup ; but, if 
required, boil them elsewhere, and add them when 
nearly cooked. 

The water in which poultry or fresh meat is boiled 
should be saved for gravies or soups for the next day. 
If it is not needed in your own family, give it to the 
poor. The bones, also, of roasts, with a little meat, 
make a soup ; and, if not required for this purpose, you 
may save them for the grease they contain. But this 
preparation, be it remembered, is entirely different, in 
its essential properties, from soup made from flesh ; 
and it should never be given to an invalid or conva- 
lescent as an invigorating or nutritive repast. In 
16 



182 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

boiling out the bones in water, not only the fat present 
in all bones, but also the gelatine, (which is tasteless, 
and can impart neither flavor nor any nutritive prop- 
erty to the soup,) is extracted. It follows, therefore, that 
the fat is the only matter obtained for the soup, the 
flavor of which must depend entirely on the vegetables 
and spices that may be added. As fat is both difficult 
and slow of digestion, would it not be quite as well to 
keep the grease for soap, and use the vegetables with- 
out it ? 

Keep the vessel covered tight in which you boil 
soup, that the flavor may not be lost. Never put 
away soup in metal pots. It is much better to boil 
your soup the day before wanted, to allow the liquid 
to cool, that the fat may be all removed. Thickened 
soups require more seasoning than thin soups ; nearly 
twice the quantity is necessary. 

In France, few dinners are served without soup ; 
and the pot-au-feu (soup kettle) is a necessary utensil 
in the kitchens of both rich and poor. It might be 
termed the national dish, so constantly is it used by 
all classes. The white, thin soups are intended only 
to commence a set dinner. The substantial, thick 
soups might, with vegetables, form a dinner satisfactory 
to any laboring man. That we, in our national waste- 
fulness and extravagance, might learn a lesson of 
economy from our transatlantic friends, cannot be 
doubted. We usually throw away materials sufficient 
to make a satisfactory repast for a French family. 

Does not Liebig give (in the observations above 
quoted) sufficient reasons why a long-continued diet- 
ing on salt meat, during long sea voyages, is followed 
by scurvy and other maladies ? So much of the nu- 
tritious properties and qualities essential to digestion 
and nourishment are lost in the brine, that it would be 
better not to let the salting of meat continue until a 
brine is formed. 

Clear soups should not be strong of the meat flavor, 



soups. 183 

and should be of a light brown, sherry, or straw color. 
All white or brown thick soups should be rather thin, 
with just sufficient consistency to adhere lightly to a 
spoon when hot ; such as soups of fish, poultry, or 
game. Simple brown soups, no matter whether of 
meat or vegetables, require to be somewhat thicker. 

If good housekeepers could bring themselves to give 
up the old notion of boiling for five and six hours, to 
obtain " the extract " of meat, and follow the advice 
of chemists, they would be able to serve up a nice 
soup in a short time, and with comparatively little 
labor. At the commencement of the French revolu- 
tion, public attention was directed to the improvement 
and management of food for the poor and the army. 
The scientific men of France were called upon for an 
opinion ; and the government, led away by enthusi- 
astic reports, were induced to send forth such language 
as the following : " A bone is a tablet of soup formed 
by nature ; a pound of bones gives as much soup as 
six pounds of meat ; bone soup, in a dietetical point 
of view, is preferable to meat soup." It would seem 
that even cookery, at that time, was looked at through 
the same exaggerated medium as political matters. 
These expressions were soon found to be the grossest 
exaggerations, and the apparatus which was put up 
to convert the bones into soup was soon found to be 
useless, and totally abandoned. The medical officers 
of the Hotel Dieu drew up a report, which declares such 
soup to be of bad quality and indigestible. Therefore 
we may conclude soup made from bones of meat and 
poultry to be nothing more than the stone soup of old, 
which, with plenty of vegetables and seasoning, made 
quite a delicious repast. 

A CLEAR BROWN STOCK FOR GRAVY OR SOUP. Put 

a knuckle of veal, a pound of lean beef, and a pound 
of the lean part of bacon, all sliced, into a stewpan, 
with two or three well-scraped carrots, two onions, two 
turnips, two heads of celery, sliced, and two quarts of 



184 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

cold water. Stew the meat until tender, but do not 
let it brown. When thus prepared, it will serve either 
for soup or brown or white gravies ; if for brown, add 
some coloring, and boil a few minutes. Skim it very 
carefully. To color it, add a little brown gravy, or 
browning. 

Coloring for Soups and Gravies. Put four ounces 
of lump sugar, a gill of water, and half an ounce of 
the finest butter into a saucepan, and set it over a 
gentle fire. Stir it with a wooden spoon till of a light 
brown. Then add half a pint of water, boil, skim, and, 
when cold, bottle and cork it close. Add to soup or 
gravies as much of this as will give it a proper color. 

Calves' Head Soup. Clean the head well ; put it 
with the feet into three gallons of water. Boil them till 
the flesh falls from the bones. When about half cooked, 
put in the pluck. When taken from the fire, separate 
the meat from the bones, and cut it in pieces three or 
four inches square. Strain the liquor in which it is 
boiled. Put two thirds of it into the pot, reserving the 
other third in case it be too thick or too highly sea- 
soned. Put into the pot, before the head is again put 
in, a half bottle of red wine. Take the other half of 
the wine and swell four pounded and sifted crackers. 
Add to the soup a spoonful of marjoram, one of 
thyme, two of savory, and one of cayenne pepper ; salt 
to your taste ; one ounce of mace, one half ounce of 
pounded cloves, two nutmegs ; mix all together, and 
put it over the fire. Let it boil moderately for two 
hours. Stir it occasionally, to prevent its burning. 
Serve with forcemeat balls, thin slices of lemon, and 
eggs boiled hard. 

Calves' Head or Mock Turtle Soup. One calf's 
head, with the feet, liver, tongue, and lights, simmered 
till tender. When thoroughly cooked, let them be 
taken out, and cut into small pieces ; strain the liquor, 
and let it stand till cold. Then skim the fat off very 
carefully. Instead of cutting up the head for soup, it 



soups. 185 

can be served for dinner. The next day, take about 
two quarts of the liquor, one dozen cloves, one dozen 
peppercorns, salt, two onions, two carrots, and two 
turnips, cut fine. Cut up all of the meat that you 
have left into small, square pieces. Put the vegetables 
together, and boil them one hour ; strain the liquor in 
which the vegetables are boiled into the two quarts, 
and let them boil together. Then add three spoonfuls 
of browned flour, braided into half a pound of butter, 
and a pint of red wine. Add some forcemeat balls 
made of the brains, and a little meat chopped fine and 
seasoned. Put the forcemeat balls, lemon, the yolks 
of the eggs, and three table-spoonfuls of sage into the 
bottom of the tureen. Turn the soup on this, and 
send it to table very hot. This will make about five 
quarts of soup. 

Pea Soup. Put one quart of split peas to seven 
quarts of water. Take a knuckle of veal, or some cold 
roast beef bones, a little savory, sweet marjoram, 
and let them simmer gently, (stirring every quarter of an 
hour to prevent the peas from burning,) until they are 
tender. This will take four hours. Then strain them 
through a sieve, rubbing them well to get out all the 
goodness of the peas, leaving in the sieve only the 
hulls. Put the soup back into the pot, with some 
black pepper and a little salt. If you like, add a little 
mint rubbed fine, and a head of celery cut small. Let 
this boil. Have some slices of bread, nicely toasted, 
and cut into pieces an inch square, or, if preferred, 
fry some in butter ; put these into the bottom of the 
tureen, and pour over the soup. 

Pea Soup. Make a strong broth of two pounds of 
beef, the day before you want the soup, and season it 
with pepper, salt, and onion. Strain it. When cold, 
remove the fat. Boil one pint of split peas till tender. 
Strain them through a coarse sieve. Add to the broth 
one carrot, one head of celery, and the peas sifted. 
Boil together for three fourths of an hour. Have some 
16* 



186 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

bread toasted brown, and cut into dice. Put them 
into the tureen, and pour over them the soup. 

Pea Soup. Put one quart of well-washed split 
peas into three quarts of soft water, to boil. It is not 
necessary to soak peas over night. Put them 'into a 
pot with two carrots, two onions, a head of celery, to 
boil for four or five hours. Take about two pounds 
of salt pork, wash, and score the top well, boil it in a 
separate pot about one hour. Then add it to your 
peas, which have been sifted, and let them boil togeth- 
er about an hour. Pour the soup into the tureen, 
with the accompaniments directed in the above recipe. 
Take the pork and pour over it a little warm water to 
clean away the soup, and send it to table in a separate 
dish. 

Green Pea Soup. Two quarts of green peas ; a 
few pieces of lean ham, or a knuckle of veal, or bones 
from roast meat ; two onions, sliced ; a few sprigs of 
parsley, and put them to stew in two quarts of water 
When very tender, strain it. Put it on the fire again, 
with a little pepper and salt, and sweet herbs. Add 
about a pint of milk. Served the same as above. 

Vermicelli Soup. Boil a shin of beef, slowly, with 
two onions, three turnips, three carrots, and a little 
celery, for five or six hours — the onions should be 
browned in butter — a few cloves and mace. Strain 
it and let it cool, so that all the fat can be removed. 
Put it over the fire again ; add about two ounces of 
vermicelli in pieces two inches long. Then boil one 
half hour. 

Vegetable Soup. One onion ; two turnips ; one 
carrot ; one quart of water ; one head of celery ; salt ; 
and a little butter braided in flour; a few cloves or 
mace. 

Brown Soup. Four pounds of lean beef, stuck with 
cloves ; stew it in four quarts of water, with a stick 
of cinnamon, one blade of mace, until reduced one 
half. When the goodness is boiled out of the beef, 



soups. 187 

take it out and put in two gills of red wine; a little 
salt ; an onion. When done, strain it, and serve it 
with toasted bread. 

Si iin Soup. Take a shin, put it in a pot with 
one gallon and a half of water. Let it stew gently for 
four hours. When cold, remove the fat. Put it on 
the fire again with salt, pepper, onion, celery, and car- 
rots. After it has browned some time, add a little 
browned flour ; a glass of white wine. Let it simmer. 
Put toasted bread, cut in very small pieces, in the 
tureen. 

Shin of Beef Soup. Have the shin bone sawed in 
several pieces ; put it into a pot with ten or twelve 
quarts of water and a little salt. The scum must be 
carefully removed when it first rises. Four onions ; 
two carrots ; a tea-spoon of allspice, and one of black 
pepper ; let ^hese stew gently for five or six hours ; 
strain it into a pan, and let it remain until the next 
day. When the beef is cold, pick out all the gristle and 
sinews, and cut them in pieces as big as a walnut, and 
lay them aside to put into the soup ; take the fat from 
the liquor ; cut a large onion in slices, and fry it 
brown ; put these with the liquor into the pot, adding 
four table-spoonfuls of Hour, wet with some of the 
liquor ; add a small cup of mushroom or tomato 
catchup ; a little port or claret wine. 

Oyster Soup. Take a shin of veal, and put it into 
a pot, with three quarts of water ; two carrots, and 
two onions sliced ; some pepper and salt ; boil it from 
three to four hours ; strain it through a sieve. Braid 
a half pound of butter in three table-spoonfuls of flour ; 
boil it some ten minutes. Have ready, washed, one 
gallon of oysters ; strain the liquor into the soup ; boil 
it again ; then put in the oysters, with a tumbler and 
one half of white wine ; just boil it up once. Serve it 
very hot. 

The above can be varied in flavor and appearance. 
Instead of putting in wine, add the same quantity of 
cream or rich milk to the soup. 



188 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Lobster Soup. Boil the veal as for oyster soup. 
Break up a large lobster ; remove the meat ; break up 
the shell, and put it into a saucepan, with water enough 
to cover it; let this simmer while the soup boils; 
strain it, and add it to the soup. Cut the lobster up 
fine ; put it into the pot, and boil it one hour. Grate 
the coral of the lobster ; add it to the soup, (it adds a 
higher color to it ;) add, also, a little butter, braided in 
browned flour; a cup of wine, and the juice and peel 
of a lemon. Serve this hot, with lemons cut in halves, 
in a separate dish, for each person to flavor the soup 
according to their own taste. Instead of the lemon 
juice, a spoonful of vinegar can be used. 

Tomato Soup. Boil the veal, as directed for oyster 
soup, or take some good soup stock. Cut up three 
onions, two carrots, and three turnips, ajid add them 
to the soup, with pepper, salt, and one to two dozen 
tomatoes ; boil this two hours ; strain it. Toast some 
bread very brown, and cut it into small dice ; put 
them into tureen. Pour the soup, when ready to serve, 
on to the bread. 

Mutton Broth. Boil a shoulder of mutton in four 
quarts of water ; add one onion, two carrots and two 
turnips, one table-spoonful of salt, and one cup of rice ; 
boil this one and one half hours. Chop up some 
parsley, and add it about five minutes before serving. 
The mutton may be sent to table with drawn butter 
and capers. 

Mutton Broth. Take the water in which a leg of 
mutton has been boiled ; add vegetables same as above. 

Ox Tail Soup may be made as in recipe for shin 
soup. Strain out the vegetables ; mix a pint of thick- 
ening, and add it to the soup. Add pepper, salt, all- 
spice, and tomatoes. 

Chicken Broth. Take your chicken ; put it into a 
pot, with two quarts of water, a salt-spoon of salt, 
a little pepper, and a few sprigs of parsley ; boil it ; 
skim it well ; let it simmer about one hour. You 



MEATS. 189 

can thicken the soup with a little flour, or rice, or 
vermicelli. 

Macaroni Soup. Boil a quarter of a pound of 
macaroni in one quart of water for ten minutes ; strain 
it off', and throw the macaroni into two quarts of boil- 
ing stock; simmer it gently for half an hour; then 
serve it with grated cheese on a plate separately. 



MEATS. 

The name which has been given to extract of flesh 
is osmazome, from two Greek words, signifying a smell 
and broth, or soup. The high flavor and smell of soup, 
and a part of its nutritive qualities, is owing to this 
principle. Doubtless Liebig's suggestion will one day 
be put into practice, and the inhabitants of our cities 
and populous districts will be supplied with the true 
zest of the venison and caribou of the forests, and beef 
from the pampas of Southern America. 

" Tenderness of flesh is influenced by a variety of 
circumstances ; as age, sex, leanness or fatness, mode 
of slaughtering, and incipient decomposition. The 
flesh of young animals is more tender than that of old 
ones. The flesh of lean animals is generally finer 
than that of plump ones. Hunting, baiting, fighting, 
and whipping animals just before death augments the 
tenderness of their flesh. With the exception of the 
first, these barbarous and cruel practices are now justly 
exploded in most civilized countries. Another circum- 
stance which promotes the tenderness of meat, is 
incipient decomposition ; this is the reason why most 
animals are kept for some time after being killed, be- 
fore they are eaten. 

The meats of different animals are not equally 
digestible and nutritive, and the digestibility of the 
same kind of meat is by no means uniform in different 
individuals. Venison is easy of digestion. Occasion- 
ally mutton disagrees with some persons. 



190 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



The cooking of food has for its more immediate 
object the gratification of the taste ; but it can scarcely 
be doubted that its more remote end is the promotion 
of digestion. Nearly every substance possessing or- 
ganized life is by civilized man cooked before it is 
eaten. By cooking, the destruction of organization is 
more or less effected. Its effect is not always to pro- 
duce a chemical change in the food ; it does not ap- 
pear that roasting affects the composition of meats. 
Boiling produces some changes in them, and, in the 
case of farinaceous substances, breaks or splits the 
grains of starch. Frying, on account of the effect of 
heat on all fatty substances, renders meat more indi- 
gestible than any other method of cooking. 

Among civilized nations, the pig is the only animal 
whose blood furnishes a distinct article of food. Mixed 
with fat, and highly seasoned, and enclosed in the pre- 
pared intestines, the blood of this animal forms the 
sausages sold at the shops, under the name of black 
puddings. 

In ^Europe, cases are very frequent of persons being 
poisoned by eating bad sausages. When well pre- 
pared, they furnish a savory and nourishing food, but 
when the spices and salt are deficient, they undergo a 
peculiar kind of putrefaction, which begins at the cen- 
tre of the sausage. They become pale in color, and 
more soft and greasy in those parts which have under- 
gone putrefaction. In eating the imported Bologna 
sausages, this should be remembered; for if the sea- 
soning had not been strong, or the smoking insuf- 
ficient, or too late when applied, ill consequences must 
arise from eating them. 

Professor Lindley, of England, says, " Cold meat is 
always in a state of decomposition. It is possible 
that this state may be communicated to the system of 
a feeble individual, and may be one of the sources of 
consumption." 

Brains of animals differ from ordinary fats in their 



M.EATS. 191 

chemical properties. They are, however, regarded as 
somewhat more digestible than common fat. 

The tongue and heart of mammals are muscular 
organs, and in their dietetical properties agree with 
the flesh of the animals to which they belong. 

Sweetbread is the thymus of the calf, and when 
plainly cooked, and moderately seasoned, forms an 
agreeable and suitable food for convalescents, but 
when highly dressed, it is improper for dyspeptics or 
invalids. 

The liver of quadrupeds contains much oil, which 
renders it unwholesome food for the delicate. More- 
over, it is rendered still more inappropriate by the mode 
of cooking it. 

To choose Meats. 

Venison. If the flesh be smooth and close, and the 
fat be clear, bright, and thick, the animal is young; 
otherwise it is old. To judge of its sweetness, run a 
narrow, sharp knife into the shoulder or haunch, and 
you will know by the scent. Venison is easily digest- 
ed. It possesses the qualities of looseness of texture, 
and is easily divided into particles, as are most of the 
wild meats and game. 

Beef. If the flesh of ox beef is young, it will have 
a fine, smooth, open grain, and a good red color. The 
fat should be white, not yellow. Ox beef is the richest 
and largest ; but by some persons, heifer beef, if highly 
fed, is considered nicer. The grain of cow beef is 
closer, and the fat whiter, than that of ox beef; but 
the lean is not of so bright a red. 

Veal. Choose the meat of which the kidney is 
well covered with white, thick fat. The whitest meat 
is not the most juicy, as it is often made so by fre- 
quent bleeding. The flesh should be white, approach- 
ing to pink, and the fat firm. Veal should not be 
kept more than two days in summer, and four in 
winter. To be in full perfection, the kidneys ought to 



11)2 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

be covered with fat, and the veins in the shoulder 
bright red or blue, showing it to be newly killed ; any 
other color shows it to be stale. It is best from May 
to September. 

Mutton. Choose this by the fineness of its grain, 
good color, and well mixed with fat, which must be 
firm and white. It is not the better for being young. 
Wether mutton is the best; the meat of ewe mutton is 
of a paler color, and the fat yellow and spongy. If of a 
good breed and well fed, it is better for being old. To 
keep a loin, saddle, or haunch, the kidney fat should 
be removed, and the place rubbed with a little salt. 
Mutton is better to hang forty-eight hours after it is 
killed ; it can be kept two or three weeks in winter. 

Lamb. The vein in the fore quarter should be 
bluish and firm ; if yellow or green, it is stale. To 
ascertain if the hind quarter is fresh, lift the kidney ; 
if there is a faint smell, the meat is stale. If the eyes 
are sunk, the head is not fresh. 

Pork. Pinch the lean, and, if young, it will break. 
If the rind is tough, and cannot be easily impressed 
with the finger, it is old. A thin rind is a merit in all 
pork. When fresh, the flesh will be smooth and cool ; 
if clammy, it is tainted. What is called measly pork 
is very unwholesome, and may be known by the fat 
being full of kernels; which in good pork is never the 
case. 

Bacon, or Corned Pork. If the rind is thin, the 
fat firm and of a red tinge, the lean tender, of a good 
color, and adhering to the bone, you may conclude it 
is good, and not old. If there are yellowish streaks in 
it, it is bad. 

Ham. Stick a sharp knife under the bone ; if it 
comes out with a pleasant smell, the ham is good. 

When surloins of beef, or loins of veal or mutton, 
are purchased, part of the suet may be cut off for 
puddings, or to clarify. Drippings will baste every 
thing as well as butter, excepting fowls and game. 



MEATS. 



193 



The fat of a neck or loin of mutton makes a lighter 
pudding than suet. 

Meat and vegetables that are frosty or frozen should 
be soaked in cold water two or three hours before they 
are used, or longer if they are much frozen. To put 
them into hot water, or near the fire, until thawed, 
makes it impossible for the heat to penetrate to cook 
them. 

As to the length of time required for roasting or 
boiling, the size of the joint must decide. Allow for 
all solid pieces of meat a quarter of an hour for every 
pound, and some ten to fifteen minutes over, as you 
wish it rare or otherwise. A ham of twenty pounds 
will take four hours and a half to cook ; all others in 
proportion to their weight. A tongue, if dry, takes 
four hours slow boiling, after it has been soaked. A 
tongue, freshly pickled, from two hours and a half to 
three hours. A leg of pork or of lamb takes the full 
allowance of twenty minutes more than the quarter 
of an hour to the pound. 

If the meat is roasted before the fire, it should at 
first be put at a good distance from it, and brought 
gradually nearer, so that the inner part may become 
hot before the outside is scorched. Meat should be 
often basted, and, when nearly cooked, floured to make 
it look frothed. In spitting the meat, the cook should 
be careful not to run the spit through the best parts, 
and should observe that it be well cleaned when used, 
or a black stain will appear where it touches the meat. 
The meat must be well balanced on the spit, so that 
they may both turn together. Leaden skewers are 
sometimes provided to balance it with. In roasting 
meat, it is a very good plan to put a little salt and 
water into the dripping pan, and baste for a little while 
with this before using the fat or drippings from the 
joint. Dredge it with flour, and baste as usual. When 
the meat is about half cooked, pour off through the 
spout of the tin-kitchen most of the fat which has 
17 



194 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

dripped out. Pour in its place a gill or two of hot 
water, and put in a little salt. Baste the meat with 
this. It is not well to salt meat before beginning to 
roast it, as salt extracts the juices. In roasting all 
meats, the great secret lies in flouring thoroughly, 
basting often, and turning the spit so often as not to 
allow any part to burn. 

To roast in a cooking stove, (or rather, to bake,) the 
fire must be carefully attended to. Put the meat on a 
grate into a pan, with three or four gills of water in it. 
Turn the pan often, that it may roast equally. One 
side of the stove is generally hotter than the other. 
When about half cooked, salt it, flour it, and turn it 
over, that the under side may be browned. If the 
water dries away so that the pan becomes dry, add 
more hot water. Baste the meat often. You cannot 
save as much fat from the gravy when meat is roasted 
in a stove as when it is cooked in a tin-kitchen ; it is 
much more apt to burn. To make the gravy, if there 
is much fat in the pan, pour it off", and add a little 
water and flour, browned, which boil together a few 
minutes. 

To boil meats well requires as much attention and 
care as to roast well. Meat should always be put 
into cold water, for reasons which have been given 
before. Let the water heat gradually. All meats 
should boil slowly. 

' Fast boiling makes meat hard and tough. Allow 
twenty minutes for every pound of meat. Salt meats 
require more cooking than fresh. 

There are two points to be considered in the boiling 
of meats : first, to boil gently ; second, to skim care- 
fully the froth and scum as it rises. The scum is the 
red coloring disengaged,. and, if not removed, will ad- 
here to the meat, and make it look unsightly. When 
the water has become hot, the scum will begin to rise, 
and then is the moment to remove it, with a skimmer 
spoon. Calves' head and veal require more skimming 



MEATS. 195 

than other meats. Still, all meats need careful atten- 
tion, every two or three minutes, for a quarter of an 
hour after they begin to boil. If the water boils away 
so that the meat is not covered, add more, as the part 
which is above the water will have a dark appearance. 

Stewing is an economical way of cooking. Pieces 
of coarse meat stewed, if properly done, become tender, 
and are quite palatable. 

Frying. The fat you fry in must be boiling hot the 
moment the meat or fish are put in, and kept so till 
they are finished. It is also better that all meats and 
fish should be covered with either bread crums or bat- 
ter, as these are quickly carbonized and form a crust 
which prevents the grease from penetrating, and pre- 
serves the juices of the articles. In England, iron 
wire baskets, with handles, are used, in which the 
article to be fried is placed, and then put into the 
boiling fat." 

Broiling. Waterman's patent broilers are the only 
utensils fit to be used for this purpose, as all the fat is 
caught and prevented from falling into the fire to 
smoke. Meat should be turned often. Never stick a 
fork into the meat, as then the juice is lost. After it 
is cooked, put on salt and pepper, and a little butter. 

Boiling is the culinary operation by far best suited 
to dyspeptics, the convalescent, and the sick. 

Roasting, next to boiling, is the best way to prepare 
food for invalids. Roasted meats should be neither over- 
done nor underdone. It is a popular opinion that it is 
much more nourishing when underdone, but this is prob- 
ably an error. "For the juice, which is more abundant 
in the underdone meats, is almost entirely aqueous, and 
can possess very little nutritive quality. By the pro- 
longed roasting, the water of the juice is evaporated, 
the nutritive matter almost entirely remaining in the 
cooked meat. Well-done meat probably differs essen- 
tially from meat underdressed, in having a little less 
of both water and fat, while it has the additional 



106 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

advantage of being more digestible." By roasting, the 
gelatine is not extracted as in boiling. 

Boiling effects the same changes in meat as is pro- 
duced by roasting, but more rapidly. While the out- 
side is scorched, the inside retains -its juiciness. 

Baked meats are more objectionable than any oth- 
ers. Though the general effects are similar to those of 
roasting and boiling, yet meat so cooked is less fitted 
for delicate stomachs, in consequence of being more 
impregnated with the burning fat. It is said, always, 
that when the fat does not burn, much of it is lost in 
the process of roasting in a stove. So, of course, it is 
absorbed by the meat, and thus the different flavor of 
baked and roasted meats. Frying is the most objec- 
tionable of all culinary operations. The influence of 
heat on fatty substances effects various chemical 
changes in them, rendering them more difficult of 
digestion, and more obnoxious to the stomach. 

The best Seasons for different Kinds of Meat. 

Beef is nicest from January to May. March and 
April are the best months for salting beef. Tripe, when 
beef is in season. 

Pork, to roast, is in season through the cold weather. 

Pigs, to roast, from May to July. 

Land), from June through September. 

Veal, from May to June. 

Mutton, January to May. 

Wild Birds, from October to December. 

Turkeys, from November through January. 

Chickens, September and October. 

Geese, from September through December. 

Green Geese, Ducklings, and young- Chickens, May 
and June. 

To roast Venison. The dry skin should be re- 
moved with the fingers. A hauch of venison, weigh- 
ing sixteen pounds, will be cooked in one hour and a 



MEATS. 197 

half, if to be eaten with blazers ; if from hot water 
plates, two hours and one half to three hours. First, 
sprinkle the fat with a little salt, and then cover it with 
a sheet of thick paper, well buttered. The spit should 
be turned often. Baste it frequently. When half 
cooked, remove the paper, and baste it with claret 
wine, flour, and butter, frequently, until cooked. 

The Saddle of Venison is the better piece of the 
deer. It needs but about one half the time to cook 
as the leg, it being thinner. Served the same as the 
haunch. 

To stew a Shoulder of Venison. Remove the 
bone, and sprinkle salt, pepper, and a little allspice 
over the meat ; roll it up tight, and tie it. Put it in a 
pot, with just water enough to cover it, with a little 
salt and pepper. Simmer it, closely covered. When 
about half done, pour over half a pint of port wine. 
It will cook in three hours. To be served with the 
gravy over it. Stew the bone with it, to enrich the 
gravy. 

Breast of Venison should be cooked as -the shoul- 
der, or made into a pasty. 

Hashed Venison. Warm up the gravy left from 
the roast or stew. Make it boiling hot. Then put in 
the venison, cut into small slices. Do not allow it to 
boil. The hot gravy will warm the meat sufficiently, 
if kept in a warm place. 

Venison Pie. Look under the head of Savor// 
Pics, page 81. 

Roast Beef, a Surloin. When half cooked, turn 
the fat out of the kitchen, then baste the meat with the 
drippings two or three times. Do not salt or flour it 
until nearly cooked. Just before serving it, dredge on 
a little flour and salt, baste it well, and put it close to 
the lire to froth. 

The second cut of the surloin, the second cut of the 
ribs, and the upper part of the rump are good roasting 
pieces. 

17* 



198 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Yorkshire Pudding is very excellent when cooked 
under this meat. 

Ribs of Beef. This piece should consist of three 
ribs. The bones are generally sawed through by the 
butcher about three inches from the top. These 
should be removed, leaving the meat, which fold under 
and fix with wooden skewers. This should be roasted 
like the surloin. 

Ragout of Beef. Beef for ragouts must be with- 
out bone ; the rump is excellent. A piece of the thick 
flank is frequently used for this purpose ; or any other 
part that is free from bones and has some fat to it. 
It should be a thick, short piece, when ready to cook. 
Make a gravy as follows : Take one and a half pounds 
of lean beef, and one quarter pound of lean bacon, cut 
into slices ; one onion, sliced ; thyme and savory, and 
a carrot ; three blades of mace ; a tea-spoon of salt ; 
a little pepper, and four cloves. Put all these into one 
quart of water, and boil very slowly until reduced to 
one pint. When nearly cooked, put in a slice of bread, 
toasted brown and dry, but not burnt. Boil it up and 
strain it. Put your piece of beef into a stewpan 
with a little butter, and fry it brown. When well 
browned on all sides, add a quart of water, and sim- 
mer till nearly tender. Then put in the gravy, with a 
glass of port wine, and two spoonfuls of catchup. 
Let it boil, and serve hot. 

Hunter's Beef. A round or rump of beef that 
weighs from twelve to fourteen pounds. Take one 
ounce and a half of saltpetre ; one ounce and one half 
of brown sugar; half an ounce of cloves; one handful 
and one half of common salt, all in powder ; mix these 
together, and rub them well into the beef. The beef 
is more tender if it hangs two or three days, according 
to the weather, before rubbing in the spices. Turn, 
and rub in the spices every day, for eleven days. 
There must be no bone in the meat. When to be 
cooked, dip it into cold water, to take off the loose 




MEATS. 



199 



spice; bind it up tight with tape, and put it into a 
pan with a tea-cup of water at the bottom ; cover the 
top of the meat with suet, chopped fine, and cover it 
with a coarse paste, and bake it five or six hours. 
When cold, remove the paste and tape. The gravy- 
will be fine, and a little of it improves hashes and 
soups. Both the gravy and meat will keep some 
time. The meat should be cut very thin, and smooth- 
ly shaved, like smoked beef. Eaten cold, as a relish. 

A Fricandeau of Beef. Take a nice piece of lean 
beef; rub it with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and all- 
spice, mixed. Put it into a stewpan with a few slices 
of bacon ; a pint of broth or water ; a glass ol white 
wine ; a little parsley ; all sorts of sweet herbs ; an 
onion, pepper, and salt. When tender, remove it. 
Skim the gravy well, and strain it. Let it boil until 
thick, and add a little flour to it. Pour it over the 
beef. Served hot. 

Beefsteaks. A rump steak is the best ; one from 
the surloin is the next best. To broil a steak requires 
a quick fire. If cooked by a range, put it in front, not 
over the fire. Turn it often. When cooked, and put 
into the dish, dust over a little salt and pepper, adding 
a bit of butter. A table-spoonful of catchup improves 
the gravy. Pour into the dish a little boiling water, 
if you wish much gravy. Served hot. 

Beefsteaks with Oysters. Strain the liquor 
from a quart of oysters, and throw them into cold 
water, while you simmer the liquor with a bit of mace 
and lemon peel. Add a little cream or butter, braided 
in a little flour. Put in the oysters ; just boil them up 
once. Have ready a rump steak, well seasoned and 
broiled ; turn the oysters over it, and serve hot. 

Beefsteaks smothered in Onions. Cut up eight 
onions very fine, put them into a saucepan with a cup 
of hot water, a small piece of butter, pepper, salt, and 
a very little flour. Stew it until the onions are tender. 
Cook a steak as above, and when finished, pour the 



200 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

onions into the spider to brown, and when of a nice 
color, pour it over the steak. Or, brown the onions 
first in a little butter ; when of a good color, pour over 
them a cup of milk, with pepper and salt. Stew until 
tender. 

Fricassee of cold Roast Beef. Cut the beef into 
thin slices ; shred a handful of parsley ; cut an onion 
in quarters ; and put all together into a stewpan, with 
a piece of butter braided in flour, with a little water or 
broth. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer very 
gently one quarter of an hour. Then mix in two eggs, 
a glass of port wine, and a spoonful of catchup. Stir 
it together quickly. 

To dress cold Beef that has not been cooked 
enough, called beef olives. Cut slices half an inch 
thick, and four inches square ; lay on them a forcemeat 
of crums of bread, a little suet, fat, or butter, pepper, 
and salt. Roll them, and fasten with a skewer or 
strings. Put them into a stewpan with gravy made 
from the bones, or the gravy of the meat. Stew them 
until tender. You can make these of fresh meat. 

Observe, that it is owing to boiling' hashes or minces 
that they get hard. All sorts of stews, or meat dressed 
a second time, should be put into hot gravy, the 
first simmered, while the last should only be warmed 
through. 

Alamode Beef. For a rump of beef weighing 
twenty pounds, make a stuffing as follows: Four 
pounded crackers ; five gills of boiling milk poured over 
the bread ; thirteen eggs ; five gills of suet, chopped 
very fine ; twelve table-spoonfuls of sweet marjoram ; 
four of cloves ; six of grated nutmegs ; three of pepper ; 
two of salt. Mix these well together. Cut holes in the 
meat about two inches apart, and fill them with the 
forcemeat, and sew them up. Stick a small onion 
with cloves, and put at the bottom of the pot ; and 
lay skewers about two inches from the bottom of the 
pot ; place the beef on them after it has been stuffed, 



MEATS. 201 

and tied in a round shape with a strong string. Cover 
the meat with water, or water and red wine, or cider 
alone. Cover the pot tight to prevent the steam 
escaping. Let this stew six or eight hours ; turn the 
meat two or three times. Wet rive pounded crack- 
ers with four gills of wine, and two large spoonfuls 
of summer savory, and pour over the meat one hour 
before the beef is taken up. When cooked, take it 
up ; skim off the fat from the gravy, and if not thick 
enough, boil it down until of proper consistency. 
Serve the meat with forcemeat balls, and eggs boiled 
hard. 

Beefsteaks may be alamoded by putting into the 
bottom of a pot some chopped suet, and then a layer 
of steak, pepper, bread crums, salt, onions, nutmeg, or 
mace, a little clove; then suet again, and steak in suc- 
cession, till all is expended. Cover the whole with 
cider, or half water and wine. Stew slowly three or 
four hours. 

Tripe should be well boiled. When hot, pour over 
it vinegar boiled with spice. This will be soused in a 
few days. Or, cut the tripe, after boiling, into square 
pieces of six inches ; wash it well ; wipe it dry ; dip it 
in egg and bread crums, and fry in hot lard. You 
may turn over it, when dished, a quart of oyster sauce. 

Corned Beef. The edge bone, weighing ten pounds, 
requires three hours to boil, as this piece should be a 
little rare. 

The end of brisket is a nice piece to boil. A piece 
weighing eight pounds should boil five hours. Take 
out the bone, and press the beef for half an hour before 
sending to table. 

Tongue. If it has been long salting, the tongue must 
be soaked over night before boiling. It will need to boil 
five or six hours. When cooked, put it for five min- 
utes into cold water, and skin it, beginning to peel it 
at the tip. 

To boil a Calf's Head. Great care is necessary 



202 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

in cleaning the head. It should soak some hours in 
plenty of cold water. Take out the brains ; scrape 
the head clean, and boil it in six or eight quarts of 
water for two or three hours ; then add the liver, lights, 
and brains', which have been tied up in a cloth sepa- 
rately. Put some salt into the water ; skim it well ; 
when nearly ready, take the brains, mash them smooth, 
and add a quart of the liquor that the head was boiled 
in, a little butter, flour, salt, and pepper. Boil this 
together, and add two table-spoons of vinegar to one 
half the gravy, as all persons do not like the acid. 
Take up the head, and remove the large bones ; lay it 
on the centre of dish with the skin side up ; divide the 
liver and lights ; skin and divide the tongue lengthwise, 
and lay it around the head on the dish. Put a part 
of gravy on the head, and send the remainder to table 
in gravy boats. If there should be any meat left from 
the dinner, it can be chopped finely, well mixed to- 
gether, and warmed up in the gravy. Served with 
toasted bread underneath the meat. The liquor may 
be made into mock turtle soup, or simply boiled and 
spiced, and thickened with vermicelli. 

Calves' Feet should be well cleaned, and boiled 
three or four hours in four quarts of water. Take out 
the bones, and chop the meat, not very fine ; pour 
over them about a quart of the liquor boiled, with 
mace, pepper, salt, and a pint of vinegar. This will 
keep some weeks in cold weather. It can be simply 
warmed or fried in small pieces in batter, as oysters. 
If there should be any liquor left from boiling the feet, 
it may be made into jelly, as directed for calves' foot 
jelly. 

Pigs' Feet, cooked as above, are very nice, and 
keep well. They may with safety be cooked in winter 
season by fifty or one hundred at a time. 

Sweetbreads. Parboil them, and then cut off the 
gristle and hard parts, which cannot be done when 
raw. Put them again into a stewpan, with some pep- 



MEATS. 20'J 

per, mace, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and stew 
until tender. You can brown them, after stewing them, 
by putting on egg and bread crums, and setting them 
into the oven for twenty minutes. The liquor will 
make a good gravy. Or, after being stewed, the sweet- 
breads may be dipped in batter and nicely fried. 

To roast a Leg of Veal. Let the fillet be cut 
large or small, as best suits the size of your family. 
Remove the bone, fill the space with a fine stuffing, 
and skewer it into a round shape. Roast it well, and 
brown it. Send it to table the large side uppermost. 

Knuckle of Veal. As fqw people like boiled veal, 
it is well to leave the knuckle small, and take off some 
cutlets before it is dressed. The knuckle will keep 
longer than the fillet, and it is best not to cut the cut- 
lets oft" until wanted. Break the bones ; wash it well, 
and put it into a saucepan with three onions, a blade, 
or two of mace, a little pepper and salt ; cover it with 
water, and simmer till tender. Macaroni, rice, or rice 
flour, should be boiled with it to thicken the liquor. 
Before serving it, you may add, if you choose, a half 
pint of milk or cream. Or, fry the knuckle with sliced 
onion, in butter, to a good brown. Cover it with water, 
adding onion, peas, a cucumber or two, salt and pep- 
per, and tomatoes. Stew until tender. 

Shoulder of Veal. Cut off" the knuckle for a stew 
or gravy. Roast the other part, after stuffing it. 

Neck of Veal. Cut oft' the scrag to boil in milk 
and water, with salt and pepper. Or, stew it with 
rice, onions, and pepper and salt, with very little water. 
Or, boiled with bacon and greeens. The best end 
may be either roasted, or fried as steaks, or made into 
a pot pie. 

To stew a Leg of Veal. Stuff* it as for roasting ; 
put it in a pot, and cover it with water, adding salt 
and pepper ; when cooked tender, mix two or one 
glass of white wine, one glass of catchup, a little clove, 
and the yolks of two eggs, beaten together with a little 



204 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

of the liquor ; then stir this into the liquor, and boil all 
together for ten minutes. Serve the meat with the 
gravy poured over it. 

Veal Ragout. Take a brisket of veal ; cut off the 
neck and some of the bones, so as to make the piece 
round. Make some forcemeat, and stuff the meat 
between the short bones. Put into the pot a little 
butter ; an onion stuck with gloves ; a carrot sliced. 
When the butter is melted, put in the meat ; place 
over it a few slices of salt pork, and strew over it a 
little pepper, salt, and considerable flour ; put in a little 
water, not enough to cover the meat ; put in the bones 
you trimmed off, with a little mace or nutmeg, or lemon 
peel ; add wine, if you see fit, just before serving. 
Stew three hours slowly. 

Breast of Veal Ragout. Bone it nicely ; flour it, 
and fry it a nice brown, or, what is the better way, 
half roast it. Have ready, boiled, the bones, in some 
broth or water, with onion, pepper, salt, thyme, or sweet 
marjoram, mace, a little lemon peel. When the meat 
is half roasted, put it into the above liquor, which 
must be thickened with two table-spoonfuls of flour, 
adding also two table-spoonfuls of catchup and a glass 
of wine, and the juice of one lemon. Stew until 
tender. 

A Loin of Veal is very nice, roasted plain. You 
can make a richer dish by removing the kidneys, and 
putting in their place a stuffing. It requires three 
hours if simply roasted, and about one half hour more 
if stuffed. 

Breast of Veal. Roast it with a few slices of pork 
laid over it. It will need a full hour and one half to 
roast it well. 

Veal Cutlets. Try out a few slices of salt pork. 
Cut some slices from the leg half an inch thick, and 
fry them of a nice brown color in the fat. You can 
improve the appearance of these by dipping the cutlet 
into egg, and then rolling them in bread crams. Fry 



MEATS. 205 

them from fifteen to twenty minutes. Make a gravy 
by adding a little water and butter to the fry. Dredge 
in flour, with some soy or catchup. Boil together, and 
pour over the meat. 

Hashed Veal. Take cold roasted or boiled veal, 
and chop it very fine ; season it with pepper and salt. 
If you have any cold gravy, put it into the saucepan 
with the meat; if not, butter is necessary. Warm it 
well, stirring often, that the gravy or butter may not oil. 
Serve it on toasted bread. 

Veal Cake, eaten cold. Chop very fine some 
cold roasted or boiled veal, together with a slice of 
ham. Soak two pounded crackers in cold milk, to 
swell them ; mix these with two eggs well beaten, 
a small bit of butter, and an onion, chopped fine. 
Season with pepper and salt, and mix all thoroughly. 
Butter a mould or earthen dish, and bake it about an 
hour. When cold, turn it out, and cut it into slices. 

Veal Cones. Mince small one pound and a half 
of cold roasted veal, two ounces of butter, and a 
little ham. Mix these with five table-spoonfuls of 
cream or milk, two tea-spoonfuls of pepper, one of 
salt, and some lemon peel, chopped fine. Make this 
into cones about three inches high ; rub them over 
with egg, and sift bread cruras over them, and fry 
them brown. Put fried bread crams into a dish, and 
place the cones upon them. Cold fowl, turkey, or 
rabbit make good cones. Half this quantity will 
make a pretty side dish. 

Veal Fricandf.au. Cut a piece from the leg of veal, 
the same in width and depth, and about eight inches 
in length. Make a hole in the under part, and fill it 
with forcemeat ; sew it up. Put on the top some slices 
of salt pork or bacon. Put into a saucepan any pieces 
of the meat you have trimmed off'; three onions, and 
one carrot, sliced ; a little thyme, or parsley. Cover 
it with water, adding a little salt and pepper. Cover 
it closely, and let it stew three hours. Take out the 
18 






206 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

veal, strain the gravy, and take off all the fat. Add 
three table-spoonfuls of white wine, and two of catch- 
up. Boil these together. Then serve the fricandeau 
with the gravy over it. Slices of veal may be cooked 
in the same manner, and require a shorter time to be 
tender. 

Veal Olives. Cut thin slices of veal ; season them 
highly with pepper, salt, mace, and chopped lemon 
peel. Put a bit of butter into each roll, and tie them 
up with a thread. Fry them of a light brown, and 
stew them with a little water, a glass of white wine, a 
table-spoonful of catchup, or some fresh tomatoes, 
about one hour. Or, they may be put into the oven in 
a pan with the above liquor. Remove the thread be- 
fore serving. 

Calves' Liver. Slice it, season with pepper and 
salt, and broil nicely ; rub a little butter on it, and 
serve hot. 

Roasted or baked Liver. Wash and wipe it; 
stuff it or not, as you like. Put some slices of pork 
over it, and put it in a pan with a pint of water or 
veal stock. Boil some macaroni in milk and water. 
Serve the liver, and pour over the macaroni. Add to 
the gravy a little butter, catchup, pepper, and salt; 
turn it over the whole. 

Roast Pig. Make a stuffing, and fill the pig with 
it, and sew it up. Make a small mop to baste it with, 
using salt and water until nearly cooked. A pig weigh- 
ing eight pounds will require from three to four hours' 
cooking. Boil the pettitoes with the heart and liver, 
in a small quantity of water, until tender. Mince the 
heart and liver; thicken the gravy with a spoonful of 
cream, a little flour, salt, and pepper ; warm up again. 
Split the feet, and serve, laid over the mince. 

A Sparerib of Pork. Rub it over, before roasting, 
with pepper, salt, and finely-powdered sage. Take 
all the fat out of the tin kitchen when the meat is half 
done, adding water to make the gravy. 



MEATS. 207 

Fried Pork Steaks. Fry a few slices of salt pork. 
Dredge a little flour, pepper, salt, and sage over the 
steaks ; fry them fifteen or twenty minutes. Fry some 
slices of apples in the fat, to be eaten with the pork. 

Pigs' Feet. Boil the feet, until every bone will 
come out, in a little water, with salt, some sage, pep- 
per, and powdered mace. When nearly cooked, add a 
little vinegar. When cold, slice it, and fry it in batter 
a nice brown. 

Pigs' Head Cheese or Brawn. Boil a pig's head 
until the bones come out, and chop it very fine. 
Pound eight or ten soft crackers fine, and mix up with 
it, adding sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and spices. Put 
it into a mould, and press it for two or three days. 
Cut it in thin slices. Eaten cold. 

Pigs' Harslet should be fried in pork fat. 

Roast Ham. Spit a ham. Put it before a moderate 
fire to roast, about two hours, turning it frequently. 
Take it up on a dish, remove the rind, take all the fat 
from the roaster, and put back the ham for two hours 
more. Baste it frequently. You can make a gravy, 
if you like, to eat with it, with the drippings, by add- 
ing a cup of water, a little flour, and boil it up. 

Boiled Ham. A ham weighing twelve pounds re- 
quires four hours' cooking. Put it into cold water, 
more than enough to cover it. When cooked, remove 
the skin, and trim off all the dark parts. Cover it with 
pounded cracker, and put it into the oven to brown it. 
You may parboil it, and finish cooking by baking it. 
If the ham is old, soak it over night. When about 
half cooked, some persons think the flavor improved 
by adding a bottle of champagne, or some vinegar, or 
good cider, to the liquor, to finish boiling it. 

To fry Sausages. Prick them ; put a very little 
lard or butter into the spider, and fry them brown, 
turning them often. Fry a few slices of bread in the 
fat, and serve the sausages on them. To parboil the 
sausages before frying renders them rather more deli- 



208 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

cate, and they will fry brown sooner. Fry twenty 
minutes ; or ten, if parboiled. 

Mock Venison. Hang up for three days a fat loin 
of mutton ; bone it, and take off the kidney fat and 
the skin from the upper fat ; mix together two ounces 
of brown sugar and one ounce of black pepper ; rub 
this well into the mutton ; pour over it two or three 
glasses of port wine ; cover it well ; rub and turn it 
daily, for five days ; roast it as venison ; serve it the 
same way ; and few will guess they are eating mutton. 

Roast Mutton. Any part of mutton may be 
roasted, but the loin and hind quarter are best. Roast 
it as beef. 

Leg of Mutton, boiled. Flour a cloth, tie up the 
meat, and put it into boiling water. When done, put 
it in a pan, and pour cold water over it, and let it stand 
two minutes before removing the cloth. The flour will 
adhere to the mutton, and make it look very white. 

Mutton Chops, if broiled over the fire, should be 
wrapped in paper. Ten minutes will cook them. 
When the paper is taken off, season them with pepper 
and salt, and a little butter. Or, beat up an egg, and 
season the chops with pepper and salt ; dip them in 
the egg, and roll them in bread crums ; put them in a 
pan, and put it into the oven ; cook them about fifteen 
minutes ; after dishing the chops, add to your gravy 
currant jelly and red wine ; dredge in a little flour ; 
boil it up once, and pour over the chops. 

Lamb, roasted. Roast it as beef, after taking off 
some of the fat. All the parts of a lamb may be 
cooked as mutton. You can stew the breast nicely, 
and, when the bones will draw out, put it on the grid- 
iron to brown. Stew also some cucumbers, and, when 
all are cooked, serve the meat in a dish on the cu- 
cumbers. 

Fresh Meat Griddles. Chop all the bits of cold 
fresh beef or veal ; season with pepper and salt ; make 
a batter, and lay a spoonful on the griddle, well but- 



MEATS. 209 

tered, then a spoonful of the chopped meat, then 
another spoonful of batter over the meat. When 
cooked on one side, turn them, and serve hot. 

Italian Cheese. Take a calf's head, feet, liver, 
heart, and tongue, with a shoulder of veal ; boil them 
till tender ; chop and mix them, as directed in brawn. 
Season highly. Served cold, and cut in slices. This 
makes a nice relish. 

Beef Cheese. A shin of beef, boiled with some of 
the coarse pieces of beef, with a little salt. When 
tender, separate it from all the bones and gristle ; chop 
it fine ; season it highly with spices and herbs to your 
taste ; mould and press it like brawn. It will keep, in 
a cool and dry place, two or three weeks. 

To make Bacon. Take fifty pounds of pork ; hang 
it in the air four or five days ; then put it in water for 
three hours ; take three pints of molasses, five pounds 
of salt, six ounces of saltpetre, both very fine ; rub it 
well with these, mixed ; let it lie four or five days to 
make brine, then turn and baste it once a day for three 
or four weeks. 

Instead of smoking this meat, boil three pints of 
soot in two gallons of water till it is reduced to three 
quarts ; strain it, and pour it into the other liquor, with 
which baste it three weeks and dry it. 

To Bacon Legs or Shoulders of Pork. Rub an 
ounce of saltpetre on each leg or shoulder ; let them 
lie three or four days ; then mix together, for a baste, 
one ounce of saltpetre, one pint of salt, one pint of 
molasses, for each leg or shoulder. Put the pieces into 
some vessel, and baste them every day for three weeks. 

Tainted Meats, to remedy. Put the meat into a 
kettle or saucepan of water, and skim it well when it 
boils ; throw in a live coal well burnt, but free from 
smoke, and leave it in two or three minutes. If the 
meat is to be roasted, wipe it dry before putting it on 
to the spit ; if poultry, put the charcoal into the belly. 
18* 



210 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



POULTRY AND GAME. 

The flesh of birds differs very much in its sensible 
properties, not only in different kinds, but even in the 
different muscles of the same bird. The muscles which 
move the wings are dryer and more tender than those 
which move the legs. The tendons of the legs are 
also very strong, and at a certain age become bony ; 
but the flesh of the legs, when sufficiently tender, 
either from the bird being young, or from long keeping 
or good cookery, is more juicy and savory than that 
of the wings. 

In a few birds, especially the woodcock and snipe, 
the legs are at all times preferred to any part. The 
muscular organs of birds differ from those of quadru- 
peds, in their flesh never being marbled or having fat 
mixed with the muscular fibres. 

" That exercise produces strength and firmness of 
fibre," says Dr. Kitchener, in the Cook's Oracle, "is 
excellently well exemplified in the woodcock and par- 
tridge. The former flies most — the latter walks ; the 
wing of the woodcock is always tough — of the par- 
tridge very tender." Hence the old doggerel distich : — 

"If the partridge had but the woodcock's thigh, 
He'd be the best bird that e'er doth fly." 

The breast of all birds is the most juicy and nutri- 
tious part. 

The meat of the white-fleshed, as the common fowl 
and turkey, is generally liked, and, when young, is 
tender. Chicken flesh is nutritious, easily digested, 
and is perhaps the least stimulating of animal foods. 

The dark-fleshed game, as in the wild birds, is 
firmer, more stimulating, and somewhat less digestible 
than chicken. 

In the aquatic birds, as the goose and duck, the 
flesh is mostly firm, penetrated with fat, (which often 



POULTRY AND GAME. 211 

acquires a rancid and fishy taste,) and is more difficult 
of digestion. 

The brains of birds are eaten, though seldom, being 
exceedingly expensive. In the woodcock, the intes- 
tine (the trail) is, by epicures, considered a bonne 
louche, or a titbit. 

The liver of most birds is a favorite part. It is easy 
of digestion. The celebrated "pates de foies gras" 
prepared at Strasburg, are made of the livers of geese, 
artificially enlarged by the cruel process of shutting 
the birds up in coops, within a room heated to a very 
high temperature, and stuffing them constantly with 
food. 

All game should be kept till perfectly tender ; or, if 
wanted in a hurry, it may be picked, wrapped in a 
cloth, and thus buried in the earth for a few hours 
before it is dressed. " This is the custom abroad, 
where it is no uncommon occurrence to sup on wild 
fowl, perfectly tender, that were killed since an early 
dinner on the same day." 

Birds that are dressed so soon after being killed as 
scarcely to have become cold, are more tender than if 
put by for a night, and afterwards not kept long enough. 
On the other hand, if you wish them kept a long time, 
for any particular purpose, put powdered charcoal or 
chloride of lime into them. Still better, if you have 
an ice-house, put your game there, and no other pre- 
scription will be needed. 

Water birds, in order to be less susceptible of cold, 
are, by nature, of a warmer temperature than land 
birds. This is proved by cookery ; as a common fowl, 
to be roasted or boiled, will require from three quarters 
to an hour, depending on the size ; while a tame duck, 
of equal weight, will be cooked in one half or three 
quarters of an hour. 

Let a goose, or any strong or fat wild fowl, be 
roasted with a small onion and a pared lemon in the 
inside. These will draw out the strong fat, and give 
the bird a milder taste. 



212 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

To choose Poultry. 

A Turkey Cock. If young, it has a smooth, black 
leg, with a short spur ; and if fresh, the eyes are full 
and bright, and the feet supple and moist. Old tur- 
keys have stiff, scaly feet; and if stale, the eyes are 
sunk, and the feet dry. 

Fowls. If a cock is young, his spurs will be short ; 
sometimes, however, they are cut, to deceive the buyer. 
In old hens, the legs and combs are rough ; in pullets, 
they are smooth, and the skin is tender. A good capon 
has a thick belly, much fat at the breast, and the comb 
is pale, and legs smooth. Pullets are best in the spring, 
just before they begin to lay. Fowls with black legs 
are juiciest, and best for roasting. 

Geese. The bill and feet of a young goose will be 
yellow, and there will be but few hairs upon them ; if 
old, they will be red and hairy. If fresh, the feet are 
pliable ; if stale, dry and stiff. Geese are called green 
until three or four months old. Green geese should 
be scalded ; a stubble goose should be picked dry. 

Ducks. Choose them when they are hard and thick 
on the breast and belly, and when their feet are supple. 
The feet of tame ducks are thick, and inclined to dusky 
yellow ; a wild duck has reddish feet, and smaller than 
the tame ones. Ducklings must be scalded. 

Pigeons should be very fresh. The feet should not 
be stiff, nor rough. Tame pigeons are larger than the 
wild ones. They should be fat and tender. The 
wood-pigeon has a dark-colored flesh. 

Plovers. Choose them by the same marks as fowls. 

Partridges and Quails. If young, the bill is of a 
dark color, and the legs yellowish. They are in sea- 
son in autumn. 

Rabbit. If the claws are blunt and rugged, the 
ears dry and tough, and the haunch thick, it is old ; 
but if the claws are smooth and sharp, if the ears tear 
easily, and the cleft in the lip is not much spread, it is 
young. 



POULTRY AND GAME. 



213 



Directions for dressing Poultry and Game. 

All poultry should be very carefully picked, every 
pin-feather removed, and the hairs nicely singed. 

To pluck either game or poultry, have the bird upon 
a board, with its head towards you, and pull the feath- 
ers away from you, which is the direction they lie in. 
If the feathers are pulled in a contrary direction, the 
skin is liable to be torn. Fowls are more easily picked 
if scalded ; but this renders the skin liable to be torn, 
and, of course, injures the appearance of the birds. 
Be careful in removing the gall bag. No washing will 
remove the bitter taste. To draw poultry or game after 
it is plucked, cut a long incision at the back of the neck, 
then take out the thin skin from under the outer, with 
the crop ; cut the neck bone off close to the body of the 
bird, but leave the skin a good length ; make an in- 
cision under the tail, just large enough for the gizzard 
to pass through, and no larger. Put your finger into 
the bird at the breast, and detach all the intestines; 
take care not to break the gall bladder ; squeeze the 
body of the bird, and force out the whole through the 
incision at the tail. The bird is now ready for trussing. 

In roasting wild fowl, be careful and have a brisk 
fire. Let them be cooked of a fine yellow-brown color. 

Tame fowls require more cooking, and are longer in 
heating through than wild ones. All sorts should be 
continually basted, that they may be served with a 
froth, and appear of a good color. 

A large fowl will take three quarters of an hour to 
roast; a middling sized one, half an hour; and a 
small one, or chicken, twenty minutes. The fire must 
be clear and quick before any fowls are put down to 
roast. A capon will take from half an hour to forty 
minutes ; a goose, an hour ; wild ducks, a quarter of 
an hour ; a small turkey, stuffed, an hour and a quar- 
ter; turkey poults, twenty minutes; grouse, fifteen 
minutes ; quails, ten minutes ; partridges, from twenty 



214 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

to thirty minutes. A rabbit will take nearly an hour, 
and the hind part requires the most heat. A pair of 
chickens require from one to two hours to boil, depend- 
ing on size and age. A turkey weighing ten pounds 
requires an hour and three quarters to boil ; chickens, 
broiled, twenty minutes over a slow fire. To roast a 
common goose, take about two hours ; a mongrel one, 
an hour and a half ; a wild one, an hour. 

Plain roasted Turkey. Having first emptied the 
bird, picked, singed, and washed it, break the leg bone 
close to the foot, and draw out the sinews from the 
thigh ; cut off the neck close to the back, leaving the 
skin long ; wipe the inside with a wet cloth ; cut the 
breast bone through on each side close to the back, and 
draw the legs close up ; fold a cloth up several times, 
place it on the breast, and beat it down till it lies flat ; 
put a skewer in the joint of the wing, and another 
through the middle of the leg and body, one through 
the small part of the leg and body, close to the side 
bones, and another through the extremity of the two 
legs. The liver and gizzards may be placed between 
the pinions of the wings, and the points turned on the 
back. Make a stuffing of two cups of bread crums, 
two spoonfuls of butter, one tea-spoonful of salt, one 
or two eggs, two large spoonfuls of sweet marjoram, 
or thyme, and mix them well together ; fill the breast 
with this forcemeat, and sew it up ; if you have more 
than enough to fill the breast, put the remainder into 
the body, and sew up the opening ; baste it with salt 
and water once or twice, then frequently with butter, 
or lard it with thin slices of salt pork. Some twenty 
minutes before serving it, dredge it with flour and a 
little salt, and baste with butter fbr the last time. 
Sausages are always served a* an accompaniment to 
roast turkey in England, either put around the dish on 
which the turkey is placed, or on a separate dish of 
hot, mashed potatoes. 

Boiled Turkey is trussed the same as for roasting, 



rOULTRY AND GAME. 215 

and the stuffing is made with chopped salt pork, instead 
of butter. If oyster sauce is to be sent to table with 
the turkey, chop three or four oysters fine, and mix 
with the stuffing. Flour a cloth well ; pin up the tur- 
key tightly ; put it into boiling water, in which one or 
two pounds of salt pork have been boiling for half an 
hour ; let this boil with the turkey. The pork should 
be served on a separate dish. If no oysters are to be 
used, put parsley into the drawn butter, and pour a 
little over the bird. 

To BONE AND COOK A BONED TURKEY. Pluck and 

singe well the bird. Lay the turkey breast downward 
on a napkin, and with a sharp knife pass the point 
through the skin, which cut open straight down the 
back bone ; then clear the flesh from the bones of the 
carcass until you come to the breast bone, disjointing 
the wings and legs as you proceed ; very carefully sep- 
arate the breast bone from the flesh, without cutting 
through the skin, when you may remove the carcass 
from the interior of the turkey ; then take the bones 
from the wings and legs ; for the legs, scrape the first 
bone free from the flesh to below the first joint, where 
chop it oft'; cut the flesh round over the knuckle, and 
pull the foot, when the remainder of the. bone and 
sinews will come out together. Cut off the wings at 
the first pinion, and the remaining bone is quickly 
scraped away. This is a difficult dish to attempt, and 
only practice can make one perfect in it. Have ready 
a stuffing made of the meat of a roasted chicken, 
chopped exceeding fine, salt, mace, sweet marjoram, 
pepper, pounded cracker, a little butter, with two or 
three eggs, mixed well together. Fill the turkey with 
this, and sew it up, preserving as much as possible its 
natural shape. Crack well two calves' feet and the 
bones taken from the turkey ; put them into a deep 
saucepan or pot, with one onion chopped fine, one 
carrot, mace, pepper, salt, and a dozen cloves. (If you 
add half a head of celery, a little parsley, and thyme, 



216 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

it is an improvement.) Lay the turkey on the bones, 
and add about two quarts of water, or just cover the 
bird ; cover it tightly, and let it simmer three hours ; 
then take out the turkey, flour it, and baste it well 
with butter, and put it into the oven to brown. If 
there is not one quart of gravy, add water, and boil it 
nearly one half hour. Beat the whites and shells of 
two eggs, and add a little of the gravy, very gradually, 
to the egg, stirring it all the while. Put it all together, 
and boil twenty minutes. Strain through a cloth into 
a mould. When cold and firm, garnish the turkey 
with it. Served cold, as a supper dish. 

To clarify Meat Jelly. It is a better plan than 
the last to pass the gravy through a sieve, and let it 
cool to take off all the fat. You can soon satisfy 
yourself if it be stiff enough, by putting a little on ice. 
Savory jellies require to be stiffer than sweet jelly. If 
it is found to be too stiff, add a little boiliyig water ; if, 
on the contrary, too thin, reduce it, by boiling it longer, 
to its proper consistency ; then add the whites and 
shells of two or four eggs, with two spoonfuls of vin- 
egar and a glass of sherry ; whisk these well into the 
gravy, and let them just boil ; taste it, and if suffi- 
ciently seasoned, strain it into a mould. When cold, 
it is ready to ornament any dish, as tongues, ham, 
pies, or salads. When calves' feet are not to be ob- 
tained, a knuckle of veal can be substituted, or they 
can be used together. The knuckle and feet can be 
served hot, with a little drawn butter, for the family 
dinner. 

Roast Chickens. Empty the fowl, and wash and 
singe it. Clean the gizzard. Cut the skin of the 
' wings, and put the gizzard and liver through the holes, 
and turn the pinion under ; put a skewer through the 
first joint of the pinion and body, coming out at the 
opposite side, and bring the middle of the leg close up 
to it ; run a skewer through the middle of both legs 
and body, and another through drumsticks and side 



POULTRY AND GAME. 217 

bones. Some send the fowl to table with the feet on, 
only cutting oft' the nails. Roast them the same as 
turkey. 

Boiled Chickens. Trussed the same as roast, and 
boiled as .turkey. Stuffing is an improvement, both 
to roast and boiled chickens. Pork should be served 
and boiled with chickens. 

Capon, to roast. Prepare it as turkey. 

Capon, to boil. Prepared and stuffed as turkey. 

Broiled Chickens. Split them down the back ; 
put pepper and salt on them, and broil them care- 
fully. 

Fricassee of Chickens. Boil them rather more 
than half an hour in a small quantity of water ; when 
cool, cut them up. Take the liquor in which they 
were boiled, add onion, mace, lemon peel, salt, pepper, 
and sweet herbs, if you choose, and put in the fowl 
and simmer until tender. When quite cooked, take 
out the meat, and thicken the gravy with a bit of 
butter rolled in flour, and add, if necessary, more sea- 
soning. Put the liver, gizzard, and necks into the 
gravy to boil. Wine and eggs may be added, if 
preferred, to other seasoning. 

Curry of Chickens. Cut the chicken into good 
shaped pieces. Try out a few slices of salt pork, and 
put in the chicken to brown a little ; fry also the onions 
after the chickens are browned ; then add hot water 
to cover the whole, with a little salt ; let it simmer 
about half an hour, then add a table-spoonful of curry 
mixed with water; stir it into the gravy, and let it boil 
with the chickens until tender. To be served with 
boiled rice. In India, curries are never served without 
an acid accompaniment. The East Indians make a 
curry paste, in which the acid is mixed with the pow- 
der to cook with the meat ; or they use chutney. 

Chicken Pilau. Put one pound of best rice into 
a fryingpan with two ounces of butter, which keep 
moving over a slow fire until it is slightly browned. 
19 



218 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Take a fowl trussed as for boiling, and put it into a 
stewpan with five pints of good broth, seasoning it with 
pepper, cloves, allspice, mace, salt, and a few pounded 
cardamom seeds, with fresh tomatoes, or catchup ; let 
it boil slowly until nearly done^ then add the rice, and 
let it stew until quite tender and almost dry. Take 
three or four onions, and cut them into slices ; sprinkle 
them with flour, and fry, without breaking them, of a 
good brown color. Boil three eggs hard, and slice 
them. Lay the fowl upon the dish, and cover it with 
the rice, forming a pyramid ; garnish it with the fried 
onions and hard-boiled eggs. Serve very hot. Some- 
times raisins are boiled with the rice. 

To roast Ducks. For a pair of ducks, make a stuf- 
fing of one onion, bread crums, sage, butter, pepper, 
and salt ; flour them thick, baste, and turn them often. 
Black ducks cook in half an hour ; canvas-back in 
twenty-five minutes. Wild ducks should be cooked 
after the soup is served. 

To roast Geese. Clean well a common goose, 
and wash it, and truss it as turkey. Make a stuffing 
of six boiled potatoes, mashed fine, or six spoonfuls 
of boiled rice, two onions, one spoonful of salt, one 
of pepper, with two of powdered sage. Stuff the 
goose ; if you have any stuffing left, put it into the 
body, and sew it up. Roast it two hours. Baste it 
with its own drippings. 

Goose, stewed. If an old o*ne, this is by far the 
better way to cook it. Use any vegetables to your 
taste, with pepper and salt, and a little sage. 

A Wild Goose should be roasted rare ; one hour is 
sufficient time. Add a glass of red wine and half a 
cup of currant jelly to the gravy. 

Moxgrel Goose is cooked as the common goose. 
It requires no stuffing. An hour and a half will cook 
a goose without stuffing. 

To roast Partridges. Lard them well with salt 
pork ; tie the legs down to the rump, (if you have not 



POULTRY AND GAME. 219 

the proper small skewers,) leaving the feet on. Baste 
them well with butter. 

To boil Partridges. Cut off the feet, and tie down 
the legs. Boil them in water in which a piece of salt 
pork has been boiling for three fourths of an hour. 

To broil Partridges. Split them down the back, 
and broil them twenty minutes ; dredge them with 
pepper and salt, and put on them a little butter. 

To roast Pigeons. They may be stuffed or not, as 
it suits one's taste. Prepare the following stuffing for 
a dozen birds : Two large cups of pounded crackers ; 
one spoonful of pepper; two of salt; one of allspice; 
one onion ; a little butter, or salt pork scraped ; one or 
two eggs ; a little mace, with two spoonfuls of sweet 
marjoram or thyme. Mix this well, and stuff the 
bodies ; sew them up, and truss them well. Roast 
them half an hour; baste them with butter, and lard 
them with a small strip of pork on the breast. 

Potted Pigeons. Stuff them as for roast. Try 
out a few slices of pork, and brown the pigeons ; 
brown also a few slices of onions ; then cover the 
pigeons with a little water, with salt, pepper, a little 
pounded clove, and stew them until tender. Some 
persons split a few crackers, dip them in cold water, 
and, after the pigeons have stewed about an hour, 
cover them over with the crackers, and stew twenty 
minutes longer. Serve them in a deep dish, crackers 
underneath, and pour over the whole the gravy. 

Stewed Pigeon. Cut them open on the backhand 
season them well with salt and pepper ; put a layer of 
pigeons in the pot, then a layer of split crackers, 
dipped in cold water, then pigeons again in succession 
with crackers. Cover them with water, and let them 
simmer gently. A knuckle of veal is very good cooked 
in this way. 

Quails. Tie the legs down to the rump ; let the 
feet be uppermost. Dredge them with flour, baste 
them with butter, and roast twenty minutes. 



220 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

Woodcock should be trussed with the bills running 
through the legs and wings. Roast them as quails. 
Epicures wish them not drawn. When eaten hot, to 
be served on toast. 

Plovers. Roast the same as quails, without taking 
out the trail, and serve on toast. 

Rabbits may be eaten various ways. 

Roasted, with stuffing, as turkey. It should be 
trussed with the head on, and the front leg turned 
back, and skewered through the body. The hind leg 
straightened out, so that it be upright when dished. 

Boiled, and smothered with fried onions. 

Fried, in joints, with fried parsley. 

Fricasseed, as chickens, or in a pie, or curried, as 
chickens. 

Chicken Salad. Roast or boil either chickens, tur- 
key, or veal ; remove all the skin and gristle, and chop 
it very fine. Put the lettuce into cold water. If made 
with celery, it should be slivered very fine, and put 
into iced water to crisp. 

Five pounds of meat, an equal quantity of lettuce 
or celery. Add the dressing to the salad only a few 
minutes before it is sent to table. See Dressing, p. 161. 



PICKLES. 

Pickles should never be kept in potters' ware, as 
arsenic and other poisonous substances are employed 
in the glazing; neither should they be prepared in 
metal saucepans, as acid dissolves the lead that is in 
the tinning of some, and corrodes the brass of others. 
One may not be instantly poisoned after eating pickles 
prepared or kept in such vessels ; but if constantly used, 
a deleterious influence must be operating on the health 
from this cause, even when least suspected. 

Keep pickles closely covered ; and have a wooden 
spoon (with holes, if to be obtained) attached to each 



PICKLES. 221 

jar or firkin. No metal article should be allowed. 
The air must be excluded. It is well to keep a small 
jar into which all that was left from any meal may be 
put, and the top closely covered. When necessary to 
boil vinegar, do it either in a stone jar or in the por- 
celain-lined saucepans. 

Pickled Cabbage. Slice the cabbage ; put it into 
a colander, and sprinkle it with salt; then let it drain 
for two days. Put it into a jar, and pour boiling 
vinegar to cover it. Select purple cabbages. Those 
who like spice should boil it in the vinegar. Cauli- 
flower, cut in branches, after being salted and put with 
the cabbage, will look a beautiful red. 

To pickle Nuts. Lay them in salt water, and let 
them stand nine or ten days, changing the water three 
times. Take them out, wipe them dry, and put them 
into a stone pot. Boil some white wine vinegar with 
cloves, mace, race ginger, pepper, and horse radish, 
and pour over the nuts. The last of June or first of 
July is the time to gather butternuts or walnuts for 
pickling. To one hundred of nuts put a spoonful of 
mustard seed, one third of an ounce of nutmeg, one 
quarter of an ounce of cloves, one quarter of mace, 
one half ounce of allspice. 

Martinoes. Gather them when rather small ; wipe 
off the down, and put them into cold, weak brine for 
ten days, changing it three times. Boil vinegar with 
allspice, mace, cloves, and cinnamon, and pour over 
the martinoes boiling hot. 

Nasturtions. Gather the seed when green, and 
throw them into cold vinegar. They need a little salt. 
Used instead of capers. 

Peppers. Keep them warm by the fire for a week, 
in brine as strong as sea water. Stuff them, if you 
please. Pour hot vinegar over them. Do not put 
peppers, in any quantity, with other pickles ; a few im- 
prove cucumbers. 

Pickled Cucumbers. Put them into an earthen 
19* 



222 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

pot, and pour boiling hot water, with a very little salt 
in it, over them. Cover them, and let them stand two 
days. Then take them out, and put them into a jar, 
and cover them with boiling vinegar. Look at them 
occasionally, as they may need more vinegar, or the 
vinegar may require scalding. 

Mangoes. Choose small muskmelons. Cut a small 
square piece out from one side, and remove the seeds 
with a spoon. Fill the melons with a stuffing made 
of cloves, mustard seeds, salt, scrapings of horse radish, 
and chopped onion. Sew in the piece with coarse 
thread, and pour boiling vinegar over them four suc- 
cessive days. Then lay them in fresh vinegar, and 
cover closely. 

Lemons. They should be small, with thick rinds ; 
rub them with a piece of flannel ; then slit them half 
down in four quarters, but not through to the pulp. 
Fill the slits with salt, pressed in ; set, them upright in 
a pan for four or five days, until the salt melts ; turn 
them every day in their own liquor, until tender. Boil 
vinegar, with a little pepper and race ginger, and pour 
over the lemons when cold. When the lemons are 
used, the pickle will be useful in fish or other sauces. 

Peaches. Choose peaches that are ripe, but not 
soft enough to eat. Put a clove into each one. Boil 
a pound of brown sugar with a gallon of vinegar ; 
skim it well, and pour hot over the peaches. Cover 
them closely. It may be necessary to scald the vine- 
gar again in a week or two. They retain their flavor 
well. 

Basil Vinegar. Sweet basil is in perfection about 
the middle of August. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle 
with the fresh leaves, and cover them with vinegar or 
wine, and let them steep ten days. If you wish it 
very strong, strain this liquor off, and fill up the bottle 
with fresh leaves ; add the strained liquor. This is an 
agreeable addition to sauces, salads, and soups. This 
is a secret the makers of mock-turtle soups make free 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 223 

use of to give a zest to their soups. A table-spoonful, 
put in when the soup is finished, will flavor a tureen 
of soup with basil and acid. 

The flavor of celery and other sweet herbs may be 
preserved in the same way. Horse radish, when in 
perfection, scraped, and one quart of vinegar poured 
over three ounces of radish, with a little black or cay- 
enne pepper, is an excellent relish for cold beef and 
veal. 

Lemon Peel Pickles. Take six large and very 
thick-skinned lemons ; quarter them ; take the juice 
and core out; put the peels in salt and water. Let 
them remain six days where they will be warm all the 
time. Put the juice in the brine, with a few cloves, 
allspice, and a few pieces of ginger root. Keep the 
whole (except the core) warm for another week, when 
they will be found ready for eating, and exceedingly 
nice. 

Radish Pods. Gather them, in sprigs or bunches, 
"when young and tender. Let them stand in salt and 
water three days ; pickle like cucumbers. 

Green Beans. Gather them half grown, and pickle 
in cold vinegar, with spices. 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 

Of the indirect products of agriculture, milk, and 
the butter and cheese manufactured from it, are among 
the most important. 

The milk of most animals is a white, opaque liquid, 
having a slight but peculiar odor, which becomes more 
distinct when the milk is warmed, and an agreeable 
sweetish taste. When newly taken from the animal, 
cow's milk is almost always slightly alkaline. It soon 
loses this character, however, when exposed to the 
air; and hence even new milk sometimes exhibits a 
slight degree of acidity. It is said, that if the animal 



224 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

remains long unmilked, the milk begins to sour in the 
udder ; and, of course, it would be slightly acid when 
freshly drawn from the cow. 

Ewes' milk does not differ much, in its appearance, 
from that of the cow, but it is generally thicker, and 
gives a pale yellow butter, which is soft, and soon be- 
comes rancid. 

Goats' milk generally possesses a characteristic un- 
pleasant odor and taste, which is said to be less marked 
in animals of a white color and such as are destitute 
of horns. The butter is always white and hard, and 
keeps long fresh. The milk is said to be very whole- 
some, and is often recommended to invalids. 

Asses' milk has much resemblance to that of woman. 
It yields little cream, and the butter is white and light, 
and soon becomes rancid. 

Milk consists, besides water, of sugar, butter, and 
the curd, with some saline matter, partly soluble and 
partly insoluble in water. These proportions vary with 
different animals. The milk of the cow, goat, and 
ewe, contains more cheesy matter than that of woman 
or the ass. It is probably the similarity of asses' milk 
to that of the human species, together with a de- 
ficiency in butter, which, from the most remote times, 
has recommended it to invalids, as a light and easily- 
digested drink. 

The quality and quantity of milk is modified by 
many circumstances, viz., the breed, the food and pas- 
ture, the age and health of the animal, the time and 
frequency of milking, the treatment and temperament 
of the animal, and the distance from the time of 
calving. 

The quality of cows' milk depends much, especially, 
upon the race and size of the animal. As a general 
rule, small races, or small individuals of the larger 
races, give the richest milk, from the same kind of food. 
A milch cow should have a long, thin head, with a 
brisk but placid eye, and Mr. Youatt states, " that she 



OP MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 225 

should be thin and hollow in the neck, narrow in the 
breast and point of the shoulder, and altogether light 
in the fore quarter ; but wide in the loins, with little 
dewlaps, and neither too full fleshed along the chine, 
nor showing in any part an inclination to put on much 
fat. The udder should be large, round, and full, with 
the milk veins protruding, yet thin skinned, but not 
hanging loose or tending far behind. The teats should 
also stand square, all pointing out, at equal distances, 
and of the same size ; and although neither very large 
nor thick towards the udder, yet long and tapering 
towards a point. A cow with a large head, a high 
back bone, a small udder and teats, and drawn up in 
the belly, will, beyond all doubt, be found a bad 
milker." 

The kind of food has probably more influence upon 
the quality of the milk than any other circumstance. 
It is familiar to every dairy farmer, that the taste and 
color of his milk and cream are affected by the plants 
on which his cows feed, and by the food he gives them 
in the stall. All vegetable productions which contain 
much water, mixed with nutritive matter, increase the 
quantity of milk. The quality of milk is affected by 
almost every change in the health of the animal. The 
poorer the apparent condition of the cow, — good food 
being given, — -the richer, in general, is the milk. 

If the cow be milked only once a day, the milk will 
yield a seventh part more butter than an equal quan- 
tity of that which is obtained by two milkings in the 
day. When milk is drawn three times a day, it is 
more abundant, but still less rich. It is also univer- 
sally remarked that the morning's milk is of better 
quality than that obtained in the evening. The milk 
in the udder of the cow is not of uniform quality. 
That which is first drawn off is thin and poor, and 
gives little cream. That which is last drawn — the 
strippings or afterings — is rich in quality, and yields 
much cream. Compared with the first milk, the same 



226 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

measure of the last will give at least eight, and often- 
times sixteen times as much cream. The quality of 
the cream, also, and of the skimmed milk, is much 
better in the latter than in the earlier drawn portions 
of the milk. 

A state of comparative repose is favorable to the 
performance of all the important functions in a healthy 
animal. Any thing which frets, torments, disturbs, or 
renders it uneasy, affects these functions, and, among 
other results, lessens the quantity and changes the 
quality of the milk. 

There is no kind of milk of which different exami- 
nations of the products afford such different results, as 
that of woman : not only does the milk of different 
individuals present very different results, but that of 
the same nurse, when analyzed at various times, offers 
dissimilar proportions. This milk, like every other, 
becomes covered with a coat of cream ; but it is often 
the case that the most prolonged churning cannot 
produce butter. The astonishing differences which 
appear in woman's milk may be attributed to the pas- 
sions of the mind, to nervous agitation, and to fre- 
quent changes of diet. The action of the two first 
agents is of the most powerful kind ; and as they are 
exercised most vigorously and frequently upon the hu- 
man species, it is not wonderful that they should exert 
a decided influence upon the milk of women. The 
suspicion that hereditary or constitutional affections 
alter the condition of milk, is strengthened by the 
common observation that the milk of different nurses 
does not equally suit the same child, nor that of the 
same nurse different children. That mental emotions 
affect the quality of the milk is proved by the fact, 
that the action of the bowels of the child is frequently 
disordered, in consequence of some sudden emotion on 
the part of the nurse. The influence which many 
medicines, taken by the patient, have over the child, is 
a circumstance known to every nurse. We can modify 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 227 

the color of the milk by mixing saffron or madder with 
the food ; the odor may be affected by various plants ; 
the taste may be altered by the use of bitters, as worm- 
wood ; and lastly, the medicinal effect may be also in- 
fluenced. Children may be salivated by sucking nurses 
under the influence of mercury, or purged by the exhi- 
bition of drastics, or narcotized by the administration 
of opiates to the nurse, or stupefied by the frequent 
use of intoxicating drinks by the parent. These ob- 
servations deserve great attention from those interested 
in the nursing of children. The sugar of milk is ob- 
tained, by boiling and evaporation, in the shape of 
crystals. It is less sweet than the sugar of the grape 
or of the sugar-cane. It undergoes no change when 
exposed to the air. It is used by homceopathists as a 
foundation of their powders and pellets, as it con- 
tains no lime like common sugar. When milk is ex- 
posed to the air for any length of time, it acquires a 
sour taste, which gradually increases in intensity till 
the whole ferments. This sour taste is owing to the 
production of a peculiar acid, to which the name of 
acid of milk, or lactic acid, has been given. This acid 
is rarely found in milk when first drawn from the cow, 
but it very soon begins to form. It is produced from 
the sugar, through the influence of the cheesy matter 
of the milk. The pure acid may be mixed with cold 
milk, without causing it to curdle ; but if the mixture 
be heated, the curd forms and speedily separates. It 
is for the same reason, that milk may be distinctly sour 
to the taste, and yet may not coagulate. But if such 
milk be heated, it will curdle immediately. So cream, 
when sour, may not appear so till it is poured into hot 
tea, when it will separate, and leave its cheesy matter 
floating on the surface. 

If milk be kept at a low temperature, it may be pre- 
served for several days without becoming sensibly 
sour. This is done in Switzerland," by immersing the 
milk vessels' in a shallow trough of cool water, which 



228 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

is renewed often. In such cases, the operation of the 
cheesy matter is going on, though slowly. The curd 
of milk, or any substance which possesses the power 
of changing sugar into lactic acid, loses that power if 
the solution in which they are present be raised to the 
boiling point. If milk be put into bottles, be well 
corked, put into a pan of cold water, and gradually 
raised to the boiling point, and then allowed to cool, 
and put into a cool place, the milk may be preserved 
sweet for upwards of half a year. If milk be exposed 
to the air, after being boiled, the cheesy matter will 
gradually resume the property of transforming the 
sugar into the acid. Hence, if milk be boiled, it is pre- 
served sweet for a longer time, though at the end of a 
day or two it will turn sour. If the milk be boiled every 
morning, or every other morning, the souring property 
of the cheesy matter is at every boiling destroyed 
again, and the milk may thus be kept fresh for two 
months or more. Milk is in general readily digested 
by children, unless it contain too large a quantity of 
nutritious matter. It frequently disagrees with adults. 
With some it proves heavy and difficult of digestion, 
owing to its oily constituent, (butter.) With such, 
asses' milk, or skimmed cows' milk, usually agrees. 

The fatty part of the milk, which exists in the 
cream and forms the butter, is merely mixed with and 
held in solution by the water of which the milk chiefly 
consists. In the udder of the cow, it is in some meas- 
ure separated from, and floats on the surface of the 
milk, the latter drawn portions being always the richest 
in cream. During the milking, the rich and poor por- 
tions are usually mixed together again ; and thus the 
separation afterwards is rendered slower, more difficult, 
and less complete. This is proved by two facts : first, 
if the milk be shaken or stirred, so as to mix all its 
parts together before setting it aside, the cream will 
be considerably longer in coming to the surface ; and 
second, more cream is obtained by keeping the milk in 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



229 



different vessels, as it is drawn, and setting these aside 
to *throw up their cream, than by mixing the whole 
milking together. When the collection of cream is 
the principal object, economy suggest* that the first, 
second, third, and last drawn portions of the milk 
should be kept apart. This would be easily done by 
having three or four pails to put the milk into. Cream 
does not readily rise through any considerable depth 
of milk ; it is proper, therefore, to use broad, shallow 
vessels, in which the milk stands at a depth of not 
more than two or three inches. The temperature of 
the surrounding air materially affects the quantity of 
cream which milk yields, and the rapidity with which 
it rises to the surface. An equal quantity of cream 
from the same milk may be taken off in a much shorter 
time in warm weather than in the cold season. The 
reason of this is, that the fatty matter of the milk 
becomes partially solid in cold weather, and is thus 
prevented from rising to the surface of the milk as 
easily as when in a perfectly fluid state. In very thin, 
or poor milk, in which little cheesy matter is contained, 
the cream will rise more quickly. 

The composition of cream is even more variable 
than that of milk ; and its richness depends much on 
the manner in which it is collected. It does not con- 
sist wholly of fatty matter, but these globules of fat, 
as they rise, bring up with them a variable proportion 
of the curd and some of the sugar. It is the sugar 
which makes the cream turn sour, and the cheesy mat- 
ter which makes it curdle, when mixid with acid liquids 
or acid fruits. 

The clotted, or clouted cream, used so much in 
England, as well as the butter prepared from it, con- 
tains, probably, an unusually large quantity of cheese. 
It is prepared by straining the warm milk into large 
shallow pans, into which a little water has previously 
been put, allowing these to stand from six to twelve 
hours, and then carefully heating over a slow fire to 
20 



230 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

the boiling point. The milk must not boil, neither 
must the skin of the cream be broken. The dishes 
are now removed to the dairy and allowed to cool. In 
summer, the cream should be churned the following 
day ; in winter, it may stand over two days. The 
quantity of cream obtained is said to be one fourth 
greater by this method, and the milk is proportionably 
poor. When milk, on which there is no cream, is 
heated to boiling, a pellicle of cheesy matter forms on 
its surface. Such a pellicle may form, in a less de- 
gree, in the above scalding process ; and may thus 
increase the quantity of cream. 

In milk and cream, the oily globules appear to be 
surrounded with a thin white shell or covering, probably 
of the cheesy matter, by which they are prevented 
from running into one another and collecting into 
larger oily drops. But when cream is heated for a 
length of time, these globules, by their lightness, rise 
to the surface, press nearer to each other, break through 
their coverings, and unite into a film of melted fat. In 
like manner, when milk or cream are strongly agitated 
by any mechanical means, the temperature is found to 
rise, the coverings of the globules are broken or sepa- 
rated, and the fatty matter unites into small grains, and 
finally into lumps. This is our ordinary butter. The 
union of these globules appears to be greatly promoted 
by the presence of a small quantity of acid, since, in 
churning, it never takes place until the milk or cream 
has become sour. 

Cream, for churning, is usually allowed to become 
sour. It ought to be, at least, one day old ; but may 
with advantage be kept several days in cold weather. 
It should be frequently stirred. This sour cream is put 
into churns, and worked in the usual way till the butter 
separates. This is collected in lumps, well beaten and 
squeezed free from milk, and in some dairies is washed 
with pure cold water, as long as the water is milky. In 
other localities, the butter is not washed; but, after 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 231 

being well beaten, is carefully freed from the remaining 
milk by repeated squeezings and dryings. Both meth- 
ods, no doubt, have their advantages. In the same 
circumstances, the washed butter may be more easily 
preserved in the fresh state, while the unwashed butter 
will probably possess a higher flavor. 

If cream be put into the churn sweet, butter will be 
obtained, but, in most cases, it requires more labor and 
time, without affording, in general, a finer quality of 
butter. The cream becomes sour before the butter 
begins distinctly to form. 

The method of churning the whole milk is very 
laborious, from the difficulty of keeping in motion such 
large quantities of fluid. It is said, however, to give a 
larger quantity of butter. In churning clotted cream, 
there is an exception to the general rule just stated — 
that more time is required in churning sweet cream. 
In clotted cream, the heating of the cream has disposed 
the oily globules to adhere ; an incipient running to- 
gether of these has taken place before the cream is 
removed from the milk ; and hence the comparative 
ease with which the churning is effected. I presume 
there is some peculiar flavor in butter prepared in this 
way ; as it is known, in other countries, by the name 
of " Bohemian butter." 

It is probable that the proportion of cheesy matter 
contained in butter varies much. The thickness and 
richness of the milk ; the mode of preparing the butter, 
whether from the milk or cream ; the way in which 
the cream is separated from the milk, whether by 
clotting or otherwise ; and the nature of the food and 
pasture, — must all affect, in a great degree, the propor- 
tions of the fatty and cheesy matters of which butter 
consists. The pure fat of the butter may be obtained 
in a nearly pure state ; and it can be preserved for a 
long time without becoming rancid. It is the various 
substances with which its fatty matter is mixed that 
give to common butter its tendency to become rancid 
and to acquire an unpleasant taste. 



232 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

The more quickly milk or cream is churned, the 
paler, softer, and the less rich is the butter. Cream 
may be safely churned in from -one to one and a half 
hours ; while milk ought to have from two to three 
hours. The churning should be regular, and slower in 
warm weather, that the butter may not be soft and 
white ; and quicker in winter, that the proper temper- 
ature may be kept up. "When the process of churning 
is continued after the full separation of the butter, it 
loses its fine yellowish, waxy appearance, and becomes 
soft and light colored. The weight is said to be in- 
creased ; and hence over-churning is frequently prac- 
tised in making butter for immediate sale. 

Much depends on the temperature of the cream when 
the churning is commenced. Cream, when first put 
into the churn, should never be warmer than 53° to 55° 
Fahr. It rises during the churning. Milk should be 
at 65° Fahr. In winter, either of these temperatures 
may be easily attained. In cold weather, it is often 
necessary to add hot water to the cream to raise it 
even to 55°. In summer, even in cool and well-or- 
dered dairies, it is difficult to keep the cream down to 
this point. 

It seems almost unnecessary to mention, that clean- 
liness is peculiarly necessary in the manufacture of 
butter. Cream is remarkable for the rapidity with 
which it absorbs and becomes tainted by unpleasant 
odors. It is necessary that the air of the dairy should 
be sweet, and that it be often renewed ; and that it 
should be open in no direction from which bad odors 
can come. 

"When butter becomes rancid, there are two sub- 
stances which change — the fatty matters, and the milk- 
sugar, with which they are mixed. There are two 
agencies by which these changes are induced — the 
caseine or cheesy matter present in the butter, and the 
oxygen of the air. The quantity of cheesy matter 
which butter usually contains is very small ; but it is 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 233 

the singular property of this substance to induce chem- 
ical change of a very remarkable kind upon other 
compound bodies, even when mixed with them in very 
minute quantity. In butter, the same changes take 
place as in milk. The caseine alters the sugar and the 
fatty matters, producing acids, to which its rancid taste 
and smell are to be ascribed. 

In the making of butter, it is of much consequence 
to free it, as completely as possible, from the curd and 
sugar of milk. The washing of the butter must be the 
most effectual method, and is generally recommended 
for butter that is to be eaten fresh. In some dairies, 
it is carefully abstained from in the case of butter 
which is to be salted for long keeping. 

There are two circumstances which, in the case of 
butter that is to be kept any length of time, may render 
it inexpedient to adopt the method of washing. The 
water may not be of the purest kind, and thus may 
promote the future decomposition of the butter. The 
water should contain as little lime as possible, as the 
butter would retain the lime and acquire a bad taste 
from it. The water may also contain organic sub- 
stances in solution — vegetable or animal matters, not 
visible perhaps, yet usually present even in spring water. 
These the butter is sure to extract, and they may ma- 
terially contribute to its decay, and to the difficulty of 
preserving it from rancidity. 

The washing of butter also exposes the particles of 
butter to the action of the oxygen of the air much 
more than when the butter is merely squeezed. The 
effect of this oxygen, in altering either the fatty mat- 
ters or the small quantity of caseine which remains, 
contributes to render butter more susceptible of decay. 
But the caseine, after it has been for a longer time 
exposed to the air, undergoes another alteration, and 
induces a still more unpleasant acid during this period 
of its action. In the preservation of butter, therefore, 
it is of indispensable necessity to exclude the air. In 
20* 



234 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

butter that is to be salted, the sooner the salt is applied, 
and the whole packed close, the better and sweeter the 
butter is likely to remain. 

The action of this cheesy matter and its tendency 
to decay are arrested, or greatly retarded, by putting 
over the butter a solution of salt, saltpetre, and sugar. 
Where the butter has been washed, this mixture of 
cane-sugar may supply the place of the milk-sugar 
which the butter originally contained, and may impart 
to it a sweeter taste. 

The salt should be as pure as possible, and as free 
from lime and magnesia as can be obtained. It is 
easy to purify the common salt by pouring a couple of 
quarts of boiling water upon fourteen pounds of salt, 
— stirring the whole well, for a couple of hours, and 
afterwards straining it. The water, which runs through, 
is a solution of salt, and contains all the impurities, 
but may be used for common culinary purposes, or 
may be mixed with the food of cattle. The salt in the 
cloth is free from salts of lime and magnesia, and 
should be hung up to dry. 

The salt must be thoroughly incorporated with the 
butter. The first sensible effect is to make the butter 
shrink and diminish in bulk. It becomes more solid, 
and squeezes out a portion of the water, with which 
part of the salt also flows away. The most important 
point to be attended to, in the salting of butter, is to 
take care that all the water which remains in the but- 
ter shall have dissolved as much salt as it can possibly 
take up ; and that, in no part of the butter, shall there 
be a particle of cheesy matter which is not also in con- 
tact with salt. If you exclude the air, the solution 
of salt will not only preserve this cheesy matter from 
decay itself, but will enable it to prevent decay in the 
sugar and fat which are in contact with it. 

It seems almost extraordinary that such rigid pre- 
cautions should be necessary, to prevent the evil influ- 
ence of half a pound of cheesy matter in one hundred 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 235 

pounds of butter. The second agent to be guarded 
against is the oxygen of the atmosphere. It must be 
carefully excluded. Its effect is to change the solid acid 
into the disagreeable liquid acid of butter. 

To this action of the air is partly to be ascribed that 
peculiar kind of rancidity, which, without penetrating 
into the interior of well-packed butter, is yet percepti- 
ble on its surface wherever the air has come in contact 
with it. A knowledge of this action of the air urges 
strongly the necessity of incorporating and kneading 
together the butter in the cask or firkin ; that no air- 
hole or openings for air be left; that the cask itself 
be not only water-tight, but air-tight ; and that it 
should never be finally closed till the butter has shrunk 
in as far as it is likely to do, and the vacancies, which 
may have arisen between the butter and the cask, have 
been carefully filled up again. 

Buttermilk, when made from the whole milk, differs 
from the milk in the absence of butter. As it contains 
the caseine, the sugar, and the salts of milk, it must 
possess nutritive qualities. The lower classes in Ire- 
land use it extensively as an article of food. It forms 
a very agreeable, cooling beverage, in febrile and in- 
flammatory cases. In various parts of Switzerland 
and Germany there are special establishments for the 
cure of chronic diseases by the use. of pure or aroma- 
tized whey, — " Cures de Petit Lait" The whey is 
obtained from the milk of the cow, the goat, or the ass ; 
and is used as a drink, as a lavement, or as a bath. 
Its use is often associated with that of mineral waters. 

Rennet is prepared from the salted stomach of the 
calf, lamb, young kid, or pig. That from the calf is 
generally preferred. 

Differences prevail in the mode of using and salting 
the stomach ; and perhaps the different flavors of 
cheese, made in different countries and districts, is 
owing to this. It is the universal opinion, however, 
that the stomach must be kept for ten or twelve months 



236 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

before it yields the strongest and best rennet. Some 
put a handful of salt into and around it, then roll to- 
gether and hang it in a warm place to dry. Others 
salt it in pickle for a few days, and then hang it to dry ; 
while others, again, pack several of them in layers, 
with much salt within and without, and preserve them 
in a cool place till the cheese-making season of the 
next year. 

In making the rennet, there are different customs. 
A bit of the dried stomach is put into half a pint 
of lukewarm water, with a little salt. It is allowed to 
stand over night, and, in the morning, the infusion is 
turned into the milk. In some counties in England, 
the dried stomach is chopped, and put, with a handful 
or two of salt, and one or two quarts of water, into a 
jar, and allowed to stand for two or three days ; and 
when the liquid is strained, it is bottled for use — this 
may be kept for many months. Some use pure water 
only, others a decoction of the leaves of the sweetbrier, 
and the bramble, or of aromatic herbs and flowers ; 
while others, again, put in lemons, cloves, mace, or 
brandy. This is done, both to preserve the rennet, and 
to impart a flavor to the cheese. 

The milk must be heated to about 90° or 95° Fahr., 
and the rennet poured in, and well mixed with it. The 
quantity necessary varies with the quality of the ren- 
net — from a table-spoonful to half a pint for thirty or 
forty gallons of milk. The time necessary for the 
complete fixing of the curd varies from fifteen minutes 
to an hour, or even an hour and a half. This is owing 
chiefly to the different temperatures of the milk, and 
the quality and quantity of the rennet employed. 

Whatever gives rise to natural differences, in the 
quality of the milk, must affect also that of the cheese 
prepared from it. If the milk is poor in butter, so 
must the cheese be. The milk of different animals 
gives cheese of different qualities. Ewes' milk and 
goats' milk cheeses are celebrated for qualities which 
are not possessed by cheeses made from cows' milk. 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 237 

The Schabzieger, or Zapzieger, or Sap-Sago cheese 
is readily distinguished by its marbled appearance and 
aromatic flavor, both produced by the bruised leaves 
of the melitot, (melitotus officinalis,) or wild oats. The 
bruised flowers, powdered and sifted, or the seeds alone, 
are used. Our sage cheese is a humble imitation of 
these celebrated Swiss green cheeses. 

Further differences are produced, according to the 
proportion of cream which is added to the milk. If 
cream alone is used, we have rich cream cheeses, which 
must be eaten fresh. Or, if the cream of the previous 
night's milking be added to the new milk of the morn- 
ing, we may have such cheese as the Stilton of Eng- 
land. If the entire milk only be used, we have the 
Cheshire, the Wiltshire, or the Double Gloucester. In 
fact, in every county of England and Ireland, as in 
Holland and France, there is some difference in the 
mixture of milk and cream, which produces like differ- 
ence in their famous cheeses. 

From buttermilk a poor cheese is also obtained. 
From this milk the curd separates naturally by gentle 
heating. But, being prepared from sour milk without 
the use of rennet, buttermilk cheese differs more or less 
in quality from that made from sweet skimmed milk. 

The acid of the buttermilk, especially after standing 
a day or two, is capable of coagulating new milk ; and 
thus, by mixing more or less sweet milk with the but- 
termilk before it is warmed, several other qualities of 
cheeses may be made. 

Potato Cheese is made in various ways. One 
pound of sour milk is mixed with five pounds of boiled 
potatoes and a little salt, and the whole beaten to a 
pulp, which, after standing five or six days, is worked 
up again, and then dried in the usual way. If the 
milk is raised to a higher temperature than 97° Fahr., 
the curd will be hard and tough ; if colder, it is soft, 
and difficult to obtain it free from whey. When the 
first happens, a portion of the first whey that separates 



238 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

may be taken out, allowed to cool, and then poured in 
again. If it proves to have been too cold, add hot 
milk. The quality of the cheese will always be more 
or less affected, when either of these expedients are 
adopted. It is safer to attain the true temperature. 
Be careful, in warming the milk, that it is not scorched 
or fire-fanged. 

The curd should be broken up as soon as the milk 
is coagulated. The longer it stands after this, the 
harder and tougher it will be. 

The goodness of the cheese depends upon the qual- 
ity and quantity of the rennet, with the way in which 
it is made, and also the method of treating the curd. 
All the whey must be extracted from the curd, and 
yet the quickest way may not be the best. 

The kind of salt used, some people think, affects the 
taste of the cheese. The coloring matter — as saffron, 
annatto, the carrot, or marigold, boiled in the milk — is 
thought by many to affect its quality. 

From the same milk, cheeses of different sizes, if 
treated in the same way, will, at the end of a given 
number of months, possess qualities in a considerable 
degree different. 

The care with which cheese is salted, the warmth 
of the place in which it is kept for the first two or 
three weeks, the temperature and closeness of the 
cheese room, the frequency of turning, of cleaning from 
mould, and of rubbing with butter — all these exercise 
a great influence upon its flavor. 

It is said that a cheese possessed of no very striking 
taste of its own, may be inoculated with any flavor 
we choose by putting into it a small portion of the 
cheese we are desirous it should be made to resemble. 
Of course, this can only apply to cheeses of equal 
richness. 

Cheese is subject to the attacks of both animals and 
vegetables. A fly deposits its larvae on the cheese. The 
cheese mite is also frequently found. Both the blue 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 239 

and red mould of cheese is composed of minute fungi. 
Cheese is difficult to be digested, especially by dys- 
peptics. " By many," says Dr. Dunglison, " cheese is 
supposed to be an excellent condiment, and, accord- 
ingly, it is often systematically taken at the end of 
a dinner as a digestive, in accordance with the old 
proverb, — 

• Cheese is a surly elf, 
Digesting all things but itself.' " 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 

To preserve Beefsteaks. Take any quantity of 
steak, envelop each piece completely in corn meal, 
and pack it away, with a sufficient quantity of meal 
between the pieces to prevent their coming immedi- 
ately in contact. When wanted, remove the meal, 
and prepare as usual for the table. Steak may be kept, 
in moderate weather, from a fortnight to three weeks, 
and in cold, proportionably longer. 

Preserving Fruits. Send to your tinsmith, and 
get a sufficient number of tin canisters, very carefully 
and tightly made. They should be of uniform size. 
The shape preferred is seven inches high by five in 
diameter, uniform cylinders. Select the fairest fruit — 
peaches, strawberries, tomatoes, or whatever you 
choose. It should be just ripe, but not past the 
mature stage. Fill the canisters, place the tin lids 
on their tops, and solder them down very carefully. 
Only a small hole, the size of a pin, should be left 
for the air to escape. The next point is to drive out 
the air from these canisters, to prevent the decay of 
the fruit. To do this, take a broad boiler pan, with a 
flat bottom, place the canisters in it, and fill it with 
boiling water, within about three fourths of an inch 
of the tops of canisters. The boiler being over a 
gentle fire, the water must be made to boil ; this will 



240 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

drive the air in each canister through the small hole 
left in the top, and, in order to know when it is all 
expelled, you must drop a few drops of water upon 
this hole ; when the bubbles of air cease rising through 
these drops of water, the air is all expelled, and then 
you may pass a dry cloth over the hole, and let a drop 
of solder fall upon it. Or, have a small pointed wedge 
of wood ready, to fill the hole. While one person 
puts in the wood, and cuts it off close to the tin, 
another must have ready sealing wax and light (either 
candle or lamp) to seal it over immediately. This seals 
the canister hermetically, so that the fruit will remain 
unchanged for a couple of years, or longer. The 
immersion of the tins in hot water does not impart the 
slightest taste of their having been cooked to the fruit. 
Place the canisters in a cool place. When wanted to 
use, unsolder the tops with a hot iron, and the fresh 
fruit is ready. 

Tea Kettles. When the fur (or lime) collects on 
the inside of a tea kettle, take one quarter pound of 
Spanish whiting, and put it into the kettle, filled with 
water. Boil it for an hour, or until the lime can be 
removed. 

Cellars. The reason, probably, why vegetables of 
certain kinds, such as carrots, beets, and turnips, rot 
so soon after being deposited in the bins, is the want 
of proper care in ventilating the cellars in which they 
are deposited. The Germans, who are famed for their 
exemplary domestic economy, are rigidly circumspect 
in this particular. In all or most of their houses there 
is a communication maintained between the cellar 
and the chimney, in order to facilitate the escape of 
the noxious and stagnant gases engendered by the 
vegetables and other contents. It is a well-known 
fact, that the air in cellars, from its rapid deterioration 
and impregnation by nauseous miasma, soon becomes 
highly deleterious to health ; and to this fact, doubt- 
less, is attributable, in a great measure, the almost 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 241 

uninterrupted ill health of many families among us, 
both in town and country. 

Preserving Lard. Take lard in the leaf, excluding 
all bloody or lean pieces, then salt it down as you 
would pork, using about as much salt as for pork. 
When wanted for use, try out enough to last a few 
weeks. If lard has become rancid, cut a green apple in 
two, and fry before putting in the cakes, or whatever 
you may intend frying — it will restore the sweetness. 

To whiten Linen. Stains occasioned by fruit, iron 
rust, or other similar causes, may be removed by ap- 
plying to the parts injured a weak solution of the chlo- 
ride of lime, or soda, oxalic acid, or salts of lemon, the 
cloths having previously been well washed in warm 
water ; the parts subjected to this operation should be 
subsequently well rinsed in soft, clear water, without 
soap, and then immediately dried in the sun. 

Husk Beds. No one who has not tried them 
knows the value of husk beds. Straw and hair mat- 
tresses would be less used if these beds were once 
tried. They are not only more pliable than mattresses, 
but they are more durable. To have husks nice, they 
should be split as straw is split for braiding. The 
finer it is split the softer will be the bed, although it 
will not probably last as long as when the husk is put 
in whole. Three barrels full, well stowed in, will fill a 
good sized tick, that is, after they have been split. 
The bed will be light, and the husks do not become 
matted, like feathers. 

To take out Mildew. Wet the cloth, and rub on 
bar soap and powdered chalk, mixed together. Lay it 
in the sun. 

To preserve Poultry in hot Weather. Wipe 
the chickens or birds out with a nice, clean cloth ; then 
fill the belly with cut grass, and hang them in a cool 
place. This is better than putting them on ice. 

Lime Water. Put a piece of lime as big as your 
fist into a tureen, and pour boiling water over it; when 
21 



242 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

thoroughly slacked, fill the tureen, and cover it over. 
Let it stand twenty-four hours, stirring it often. After 
this, let it settle some hours. Skim off the top very 
carefully, and dip up the water, not to disturb the set- 
tlings, and strain it through flannel. Bottle it, cork 
it well, and keep it in a cool place ; but do not let it 
freeze. 

To ALLAY GREAT SlCKNESS AT THE STOMACH. To 

one and. one half table-spoonful of fine Indian meal 
pour one pint of boiling water, gradually ; add a spoon- 
ful of salt. Stir it well. Let it then stand until cold. 
Dip off a table-spoonful of the liquid, and take every 
half hour until the sickness abates or goes off. 

Camphorated Spirit. One ounce of camphor to 
one pint of alcohol is quite strong; but the alcohol 
will dissolve more gum if wished. 

To remove the black Dye left on the skin from 
wearing mourning in hot weather. One half ounce 
of cream of tartar; one half ounce of oxalic acid. 
Mix and pound these together in a mortar. Put some 
of this mixture in a gallicup, and moisten it slightly 
with a little water, to prevent it after a while becoming 
thick and hard, and cover it closely. 

To use it. Wet the black stains on your skin all 
over with water, and then with your finger rub on a 
little of the mixture. Then immediately wash it off 
with water, and afterwards use soap and water. This 
mixture will also remove ink stains from the fingers, 
and from white cloth. Rubbed, with warm water, on 
the stains of a straw bonnet, before sent to be cleaned, 
and it will effectually obliterate them. This powder, 
if sivalloioed, is a poison. 

Liquorice. One ounce of ball liquorice dissolved 
in a pint of Madeira wine. Cut the liquorice into 
small pieces; stand it by the fire until dissolved. 
Shake it, and take a wine glass two or three times a 
day, for a cold. 

Cologne. Fifty drops of essence of bergamot; 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 243 

sixty drops of essence of lemon ; forty drops essence 
of lavender ; forty drops essence of juniper ; and one 
pint of the highest proof alcohol. 

Lip Salve. One ounce and one half white wax ; 
two ounces of fresh suet ; four great spoonfuls o olive 
oil ; one ounce oil of sweet almonds ; one halt ounce 
spermaceti ; fifty cents' worth of the otto of roses ; two 
drachms balsam Peru; two drachms of alkanet root; 
one ounce of finely-powdered white sugar ; six raisins, 
sliced. Simmer these all together ten minutes, and 
strain through muslin. This is a very fine recipe. 

To make a Barrel of Soap. Twenty pounds of 
grease, after straining ; ten pounds of potash ; one 
bucket of water. Put over the fire, and boil. Put it 
into a barrel ; add a bucket of water every day until 
filled, and stir it well. 

Recipe for keeping Eggs. To one pint of un- 
slacked lime add one pint of coarse salt and a pailful 
of water. Put the eggs in a firkin, with the small end 
down, and cover them with this mixture. Or, to two 
quarts of lime, one ounce of cream of tartar, and one 
ounce of salt, pour two quarts of cold water. I think 
this last recipe is to be preferred. This quantity will 
be sufficient for about four or five dozen eggs. 

Cold Cream. Oil of almonds, two ounces ; sper- 
maceti, one half an ounce ; white wax, two drachms. 
Mix these together, or beat into them as much rose 
water as they will take up. 

Tooth Wash. One half pint of brandy ; one half 
pint of rose water ; pale Peruvian bark, one ounce ; 
tincture of myrrh, one ounce. 

Tooth Powder. One ounce pale Peruvian bark; 
one ounce of pulverized orris root ; one half ounce pre- 
pared chalk ; one quarter ounce of myrrh. 

Cure for Sore Throat. Take vinegar and sale- 
ratus and mix them in such proportions that neither 
shall predominate. Put this mixture into a bottle, and 
keep it from the air. Let the patient take a tea-spoon- 
ful once in three hours, or gargle often. 



244 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

To rub Furniture. Six or ten cents' worth of alka- 
net root; six or ten cents' worth of pink root. Put 
them into a junk bottle nearly full of cold-drawn 
painter's oil. Shake the bottle frequently for a few 
days. Afterwards, let it settle, and it is fit for use. 
E,ub it on with flannel, and polish with silk. 

To dislodge a Fish-bone. It sometimes happens 
that a fish-bone, accidentally swallowed, will remain 
in the oesophagus, and be troublesome. In fact, death 
has been occasioned by the great irritation of a fish- 
bone. In such cases, as soon as possible, take four 
grains of tartar emetic dissolved in one half pint of 
warm water, and, immediately after, the whites of six 
eggs. This will not remain in the stomach more than 
two or three minutes, and probably the bone will be 
ejected with the coagulated mass. If tartar emetic is 
not convenient, a tea-spoonful of mustard dissolved in 
milk-warm water and swallowed, will answer every 
purpose of the emetic. 

Corn Plaster. Take of purified ammonia, yellow 
wax, each two ounces ; acetate of copper, six drachms ; 
melt the two first together over the fire, and after re- 
moving from the fire, add the verdigris just before it 
grows cold. Spread the mixture on soft leather, or lin- 
en ; pare away the corn, and apply the plaster. Keep 
it on a fortnight, and then renew it. 

To cure Chilblains. Dissolve one quart of white 
copperas in a quart of water, and apply it to the parts 
affected. This should be applied before the chilblains 
break, or it will do injury. 

Antidote for Poison. A dessert-spoonful of made 
mustard mixed in a tumbler of warm water, and drank 
immediately. It acts as an instantaneous emetic. 

Cure for the Sting of a Bee. Common whiting, 
moistened with cold water, and applied immediately. 
It can be washed off in a few minutes, when all pain 
and swelling will be destroyed. 

To cure Hydrophobia. Make a strong wash of 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 245 

two table-spoonfuls of chloride of lime, mixed in half 
a pint of water, and instantly and repeatedly bathe 
the part bitten. The poison will be thus decomposed. 
This wash has proved successful when applied six 
hours after the animal was bitten. 

To preserve Furs. Sprinkle the boxes or drawers 
in which they are kept with spirits of turpentine, or 
place sheets of paper, moistened with it, between the 
furs, flannels, or pieces of cloth. 

Potatoes. If your potatoes are " watery," put into 
the water, before cooking them, a small piece of lime. 
This will make them dry and mealy. The lime should 
be fresh, and, for a family of six, the piece should not 
exceed the size of an English walnut. 

To preserve Vegetables to eat in Winter. 

For Beans. Pick them young and tender, and 
throw into a wooden keg a layer of them three inches 
deep ; then sprinkle them with salt ; put another layer 
of beans, and do the same, until the keg is nearly full. 
Do not put on too much salt. Lay over them a plate 
or cover that will go into the keg, and put a weight 
on it. A pickle will rise from the beans and salt. 
When to be eaten, cut, soak, and boil them as if they 
were fresh. 

To preserve Corn. Take the corn when young 
and tender, and barely full grown. Let it remain on 
the cob till you have boiled it ten or fifteen minutes 
(not more) in a large pot of slightly salted water, that 
must be boiling hard when the corn is put in. When 
thus parboiled, take it out, and when cool enough to 
handle, cut the grains from the cob ; spread them out 
in flat, shallow pans, and set them in an oven after the 
bread and pies are done. Let it remain until well 
dried. If your oven is heated every day, you may put 
the corn into it a second time. When dry and cool, 
put it up in bags, tie it up, and hang it in a cool place. 
When wanted, soak it over night, and boil it as fresh 
21* 



246 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

corn. It will boil soft, and taste as fresh as when first 
picked. Add to it some butter, and pepper, and salt. 
You can mix beans and corn, as in summer season. 

To PRESERVE GREEN PEAS FOR WlNTER USE. Shell 

them, and put them into a kettle of water to boil. 
After they have just boiled up, pour them into the 
colander. When drained, turn them out on a cloth, 
and cover them with another, to dry. You can put 
them in a warm oven to finish drying, and then put 
them in bags or bottles. When to be used, soak them 
an hour in water, and then put them on in cold water 
and a little salt to boil tender. Serve them as fresh 
peas. 

Parsley should be cut close to the stalks ; dried in a 
cool oven it preserves its flavor and color, and is very 
useful to the cook in winter. 

Parched Corn Coffee. Pound parched corn so as 
to break it, but not very fine ; pour boiling water over 
it, and boil a few minutes. Add sugar and boiled 
milk. This is excellent for a weak stomach, or for 
children with teething complaints. 

For Children sick while teething. Tie up in a 
piece of thick cotton cloth a coffee-cup of wheat flour. 
Put it into boiling water, and keep it boiling steadily 
three hours. Take it up, remove the cloth, and lay 
the lump where it will become dry. To use it, grate 
it, and thicken two gills of boiling milk with a dessert- 
spoonful of it wet in cold water. Put a little salt into 
the milk. 

Another. Take raspberry or strawberry leaves, 
and boil them in water. Add to this some milk, which 
sweeten, and allow children whose bowels are disor- 
dered to drink freely of it. 

Cabbage Leaves. If the upper side be applied to 
a wound, the sore is protected, and quickly heals, 
while the under side draivs it, and produces a constant 
discharge. This should be remembered in the dressing 
of blisters with cabbage leaves. It is from the pores 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 247 

in the upper part of the leaf that substances are sup- 
posed to be exhaled, while every thing that is inhaled 
enters by those in the under side. This is illustrated 
by the action of a cabbage leaf on a wound. 

Cucumber Catchup. For a small quantity, take 
twelve fine, full-grown cucumbers, and lay them an 
hour in cold water. Pare them, and grate them into 
a deep dish. Grate also six small onions, and mix 
with cucumbers. Season to your taste with pepper, 
salt, and vinegar, making it of the consistency of rich 
marmalade. When thoroughly mixed, put it into a 
jar. Cover it closely from the air. This is very nice 
to eat with beef and mutton. 

Tomato Catchup. Slice the tomatoes, and sprinkle 
them with salt. If you intend to let them stand until 
you have gathered several parcels, put in plenty of 
salt. After you have gathered all, boil them, and 
strain through a coarse sieve. Slice two good-sized 
onions to every gallon ; add one not very large spoon- 
ful of ginger, two of pounded cloves, two of allspice, 
and one tea-spoon of pepper. Boil twenty minutes 
after the spices are in. Keep it in a covered jar. This 
is excellent for soups and stewed beef, and keeps well. 

Tomato Catchup. Skin, slice, and boil the toma- 
toes well ; then put to one gallon, not strained, a quar- 
ter of an ounce of mace, nutmegs, and cloves, one 
handful of scraped horse radish, two pods of red pepper, 
or one spoonful of ground pepper, and salt to your 
taste. Boil this away to three quarts, and strain, add- 
ing a pint of wine and half a pint of vinegar. Bottle 
it, and leave the bottles open two or three days, as it 
sometimes ferments a little, and requires scalding. 
Then cork tightly. 

Hasty Pudding. Have ready boiling four quarts 
of water with some salt ; mix a pint of Indian meal 
with cold water, and stir into the boiling water. Let 
this boil, stirring it often to prevent burning. Taste it, 
and be sure it is salt enough. Let this boil from one 



243 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

to two hours. If you have any left, fry it for breakfast. 
Cut it into slices an inch thick, and butter the griddle. 
It will brown in fifteen minutes to turn. It can be 
warmed in the stove oven with less fat, and will take 
about forty minutes. 

Welsh Rabbit. Cut half a pound of cheese in 
slices, quarter of an inch thick. Put a small piece of 
butter into a spider ; when hot, lay in the cheese ; 
melt it slowly, and then add one egg, well beaten, a 
spoonful of mustard, little pepper ; stir it well together, 
with a large spoonful of wine. Toast and butter 
some slices of bread ; pour a little wine over them, 
and turn the cheese on, and send to table. This 
should not be cooked till wanted, and served immedi- 
ately very hot. 

Roasted Cheese. Grate three ounces of cheese ; 
mix it with the yolks of two eggs, four ounces of grated 
bread, three ounces of butter ; beat the whole together 
with a dessert-spoonful of mustard, a little salt and 
pepper. Toast some slices of bread ; lay the paste 
over them ; put them into the oven, covered, until hot 
through ; remove the cover, and brown, if you choose. 
Serve hot. 

Cheese Toast. Mix some made mustard, butter, 
and salt together ; spread it on some slices of bread 
toasted, and grate cheese on them. 

Sandaviches. Spread butter very thinly upon a 
slice of stale bread, cut very smooth ; cut off another 
slice, but spread it with butter on the under side ; 
without this precaution, the two slices will not fit each 
other. Take some cold beef or ham, and chop it very 
fine, and season it with a little mustard and pepper. 
Sprinkle it thickly over the butter ; put the slices to- 
gether, and press them well. A little salad mixture, 
starred in with the beef or ham, is a great improvement. 
Or, spread on the bread, after it is buttered, a slight 
coating of " French mustard," omitting the seasoning 
from the meat. 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 249 

To prevent Iron and Steel from rusting. Heat 
the iron or steel till it burns the hand, and then rub it 
with pure white wax, and polish it with a piece of cloth 
or leather till it shines well. This simple operation fills 
the pores of the metal, and defends it completely from 
rust, even though it should be exposed to moisture. 

To prevent Lamp Glasses from cracking, by sud- 
den expansion of heat, run the point of a diamond 
along the base of the tube. 

To transplant Shrubs in full Growth. Dig a 
narrow trench around the plant, leaving its roots in the 
middle, in an isolated mass of earth. Fill the trench 
with powdered plaster of Paris, which will harden it 
in five minutes, and form a case to the ball and plants, 
which may be lifted and removed at pleasure. 

Potato Cheese. Boil good white potatoes, and 
when cold, peel and mash them till not a lump re- 
mains. To five pounds thus prepared add a pint and 
a half of sour milk, and salt to the taste. Work it 
well, and let it stand covered for two or four days, 
according to the state of the weather ; then work 
again. Make the cheese any size, and let them dry in 
the shade. After they are dry, put them into pots or 
pans, and let them remain a fortnight or more. In 
this way most excellent cheese may be made, and it 
can be kept for years without the slightest deteriora- 
tion, provided it is kept dry. 

To cleanse the Inside of Jars. Fill up the jar 
with hot water, and then stir in a tea-spoonful or 
more of soda or saleratus. Whatever there is impure 
around or about the jar will soon float loose through 
the water. Empty it, and, if the bad odor remains, 
fill again with water, adding soda, and let it stand 
some hours, and then empty it, and rinse with cold 
water. 

To extract Lamp Oil from a Dress. If lamp oil 
is spilled on a dress that will not be injured by wetting, 
lay it immediately in a small tub of cold water. Part 



250 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

of the oil will rise to the surface. Pour off this water, 
adding fresh, and continue to repeat this process until 
no more oil can be discovered on the surface. Take 
out the dress, wring it well, and dry and iron it. 

To remove Proud Flesh. Pulverize loaf sugar 
very fine, and apply it to the part affected. This is a 
simple remedy, and is said, to remove proud flesh 
entirely without pain. It has been practised in Eng- 
land for years. 

To prevent the spreading of Contagion. Nitrous 
acid possesses the properties of destroying the conta- 
gion of typhus fevers and other malignant disorders. 
Place a little saltpetre on a saucer, and pour on it as 
much oil of vitriol as will just cover it. The quantity 
of gas may be regulated by the ingredients used. 

To PREVENT FLATIRONS FROM STICKING. If the 

irons are rough or smoky, lay a little fine salt on a 
flat surface, and rub them well ; this will prevent 
them from sticking to any starched article, and make 
them smooth. 

Walnuts. When they have- been kept until the 
kernel is dried, soak them eight hours in milk and 
water. Dry them, and they will be fresh as new. 

To preserve Lemon Juice. A pint of juice to a 
pound of powdered loaf sugar. When all melted, 
bottle close, and keep it in a dry place. 

Dissolved Chloride of Lime. One quarter of a 
pound of the lime. Pour one gallon of water, a little 
at a time. When dissolved, put it into glass or earthen 
vessels, and cork it tightly. When to be used, put 
some in shallow vessels, daily, in every room. For 
sinks, &c, one pint of dry chloride to seven gallons of 
water. Throw down a quantity of clear water, then 
a pailful of this mixture. If this does not answer the 
purpose in fifteen minutes, repeat the quantity. 

To purify the Air. Mix four parts of dry, ground 
plaster of Paris with one part of fine charcoal, by 
weight, and strew them around the premises affected 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 251 

with any unpleasant odor arising from decayed animal 
matter, and the gases producing the odor will directly 
be absorbed. 

Blacking. Ivory black, four ounces ; one table- 
spoonful of sweet oil ; molasses, one gill ; mix these 
well. Add one and one half pint of good vinegar; 
one ounce oil vitriol ; the juice of one lemon, and one 
ounce of lavender. Mix it well. 

Washing Fluid. Put three ounces of quick lime 
into a bucket or tub ; pour on two quarts of hot water; 
let it settle and cool. Strain it through a cloth into a 
jug. Take a pound of washing soda and pour over it 
two quarts of boiling hot water. When dissolved, 
pour it into the jug with the lime water. Shake it 
well together, and it is fit for use. 

Water-proof Dressing for Shoes. Take a piece 
of India rubber about the size of a walnut; cut it in 
small pieces, and put it into a phial with four ounces 
of highly rectified spirits of turpentine. Cork it up for 
about a fortnight, (more or less, according to the 
weather,) and shake it every day. When this mixture 
has come to a consistence about the thickness of 
treacle, it is fit for use. You may then work it, with 
a paint brush, into leather, ropes, or what you please. 
But, when used for the soles of shoes, leather trunks, 
or any thing that does not require flexibility, you 
should add to this composition three times the quan- 
tity of copal varnish. The most effectual mode of 
application is to anoint, not only the outside seams, 
but also the whole inside of the soles. If you want 
this dressing in a hurry, and an extra expense is no 
object, you will find that ether or naphtha will dissolve 
the India rubber, and dry much quicker than the spir- 
its of turpentine. 

New Plan for making Shoes Water proof. This 
recipe is equally applicable to the clod-hopping thick 
boots of a tramper in wet and dirt, and the delicate 
French slipper of the ladies. Put between the sole 



252 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

leathers, and an inch or more up the sides, and over 
the toes, two thicknesses of oil silk. Let the glazed 
sides come together, so as to stick fast to each other. 
This will render shoes water proof, and is an effectual 
remedy against creaking. 

Corns. To walk with corns, and without torture, 
get a piece of wash leather, spread with diachylon 
plaster. Cut, with a large punch, as many rounds as 
will form sufficient thickness to prevent the boot or 
shoe from pressing your stocking on the corn, for the 
reception of which you must punch a small hole 
through the centre. 

To preserve Guns from Salt "Water. Three 
ounces of black lead, half a pound of hog's lard, one 
quarter of an ounce of camphor, boiled upon a slow 
fire ; the gun barrels to be rubbed with this, and, after 
three days, wiped with a linen cloth. Twice in a 
winter will be sufficient to keep off the rust. 

Mercurial Ointment is said to answer this purpose, 
and it will give less trouble. If the barrels of guns are 
stained with the salt water, yellow soap and warm 
water will restore the color. 

To press Silk. Silk cannot be ironed smoothly, 
so as to press out all the creases, without first sprink- 
ling it with water, and rolling it up tightly in a towel, 
letting it rest for an hour or two. If the iron is the 
least hot, it will injure the color; and it should be 
tried on an old piece of the same silk. Bright-colored 
silks or ribbons, such as pinks, blues, yellows, greens, 
&c, always change color on application of a hot iron. 
Blacks, browns, olives, grays, look very well after iron- 
ing. Silks should always be ironed on the wrong side. 
Black silks may be washed in cold coffee or tea, to 
restore them from rustiness. The chemical olive soap 
injures silks less than any other preparation of soap. 

For Fever and Ague. One ounce of red Peruvian 
bark ; one half ounce cream of tartar ; one table-spoon- 
ful of whole cloves. One bottle Sicily Madeira wine. 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 253 

Let these stand three days, and when taken, to be well 
shaken. Dose — One wine glass full three times a 
day, between meals, and decreasing as the disorder 
abates. This is said, by some who have tried it, to be 
a perfect cure. 

Gentlemen's Cravats. If the cravats which are 
imported from India are washed in rum, or rum and 
water, the colors will not fade at all. 

Drying Pears. When dried in ovens, this fruit will 
keep for years. This mode of preserving is common 
in France. In some cantons of that country, the cul- 
tivators annually preserve, by these means, supplies of 
subsistence extremely agreeable and wholesome during 
winter and spring. In this mode of drying, those Vari- 
eties of middle size, melting and sweet, are preferred. 
After the bread is drawn from the oven, they are placed 
on the swept hearth, or on hurdles or boards. This 
operation is repeated a second, a third, and even a 
fourth time, according to their size and the degree of 
heat. The heat must not be so great as to scorch, and 
the fruit must not be dried to hardness. Lastly, they 
are placed in bags, and preserved in a dry place. 

The second mode of preserving is practised on the 
finest-flavored varieties. They are gathered a little 
before their maturity, and, after being parboiled in a 
small quantity of water, they are peeled and drained. 
They are next carried on hurdles to the oven, after the 
bread is drawn, or the oven is heated to a suitable 
degree. Here they remain twelve hours, after which 
they are steeped in the sirup, to which have been 
added sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and brandy. They are 
again returned to the oven, which is now heated to a 
less degree than at first. This operation is thrice 
repeated, until they are sufficiently dried, or of a clear 
brown color, and firm, transparent flesh ; and, finally, 
they are packed in boxes lined with paper. 
22 



254 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



OF DIET. 

The term assimilation, as used, in its most general 
sense, by Dr. Prout, has been applied to those processes 
by which alimentary substances are converted into the 
organized tissues of the body : primary assimilation 
comprises those concerned in the conversion of food 
into blood ; secondary assimilation, those by which or- 
ganized or living textures are formed from the blood, and 
afterwards redissolved and removed from the system. 

Digestion is one of the primary assimilating pro- 
cesses. It comprehends those changes affected on the 
food in the stomach and intestines, and is partly a 
mechanical, but principally a chemical process. By 
digestion, starch is converted into gum and sugar ; oily 
or fatty matters are minutely subdivided, not dissolved; 
other substances (as fibrine, albumen, caseine, and glu- 
ten) are dissolved or liquefied in the stomach. All 
these processes have been imitated, out of the body, 
by physicians to determine many facts. 

The formation or secretion of the matters necessary 
to produce the requisite chemical changes in the food, 
so far as at present known, is a result produced solely 
by the vital principle. Saccharine matter, oily or 
fatty substances, and the finely-divided and dissolved 
matters, are absorbed. 

Two substances are required (an acid and a matter 
called pepsine by chemists) to dissolve all compounds. 
The first softens these bodies, and causes them to 
swell ; the second perfects the dissolving or melting 
process. 

The necessity of certain agents in the stomach to 
effect the solution or liquefaction of the food is obvi- 
ous ; and, if it is admitted that these are formed by 
the vital powers, it can be readily comprehended how, 
in certain morbid conditions of the body, the digestive 
agents are altered in their nature, and the natural and 



OF DIET. 255 

healthy process of digestion thereby deranged. The 
digestibility of food is effected by two classes of cir- 
cumstances, the one relating to the foods themselves, 
the other to those constituting the state of the indi- 
vidual. 

Some foods, as oily or fatty substances, are more 
difficult to digest than others. There is, however, one 
form of impaired digestion, says Dr. Combe, in which 
the fat of bacon is digested with perfect ease, where 
many other apparently more appropriate articles of 
food oppress the stomach for hours. Some cases of 
cholera infantum have been thus treated, where every 
thing would be rejected from the stomach, except salt 
pork or fat bacon, rare broiled, and given in small quan- 
tities at a time. Many cases have recovered under 
such treatment, where farinaceous foods could not be 
retained, or, if retained, passed through the alimentary 
canal undigested. Vegetables are slower of digestion 
than meats and farinaceous substances, though they 
sometimes pass out of the stomach before them in an 
undigested state. 

Tenderness of fibre facilitates the digestive process ; 
and therefore all circumstances which affect the texture 
of flesh have an influence over its digestibility. Incip- 
ient decomposition promotes the tendei-ness and diges- 
tibility of food. Most people are aware that fresh- 
killed meat is tougher than that which has been kept 
some time. The flesh of young animals is more ten- 
der and soluble than that of the full-grown animal ; 
yet the latter is more digestible. 

It might be supposed that liquids would be more 
digestible than solid foods. Dr Beaumont says, " Solid 
food is sooner disposed of by the stomach than fluid, 
and its nutritive principles are sooner carried into cir- 
culation." Still, exhaustion from abstinence is quicker 
removed by liquid than solid aliment. Minuteness of 
division of solids is an important aid to digestion. 
Potatoes, when cooked so that they fall in pieces, are 



258 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

more easily digested than when cooked a shorter time, 
so as to retain their form ; and, for the same reason, 
mealy potatoes are more healthy than waxy ones. 
Perfect mastication, by effecting the division of food, 
is an important aid to digestion ; and this fact cannot 
be too strongly urged on the strong, healthy man, and 
on the pining, miserable dyspeptic. If the food is im- 
perfectly chewed, and hastily swallowed, greater diffi- 
culty is experienced in the subsequent operation of 
digestion. The process of insalivation, as effecting 
foods, should not be overlooked. When food has been 
thoroughly intermixed with the saliva of the mouth, it 
is more readily operated upon by the gastric juice. If 
dry food be hastily swallowed, without being thus 
mixed, we instinctively desire drink, to moisten the 
mass. 

The state of body and mind ; constitutional pecu- 
liarities ; habits ; the interval that has elapsed since 
the preceding meal; the keenness of the appetite ; the 
amount of exercise taken either immediately before or 
after eating ; and the quantity swallowed at one meal, 
are some of the circumstances relating to the individu- 
al, which affect digestion. Violent anger, for instance, 
disturbs this process ; and, in some diseases, accom- 
panied with thirst, dryness of mouth, &c, very little or 
no gastric juice is secreted. Under such circumstances, 
food should not be taken ; if it be, no nourishment 
can be obtained from it, while its presence in the stom- 
ach is a source of irritation. Considerable difference 
of opinion exists regarding the influence of repose after 
eating. Some say exercise promotes digestion ; others, 
again, say it retards it ; and both parties appeal to ex- 
perience in proof of their opinion. After a plentiful 
repast, all will agree in admitting that the functions of 
the body are more or less impaired ; sluggishness is 
brought on, and a tendency to repose experienced. 
These effects are universal in the animal kingdom. 
We feel them ourselves, we see them in our fellow- 



OF DIET. 257 

men, and we notice them in the inferior animals. The 
dog, after satisfying his natural appetite, lies down 
and sleeps ; and the boa lies torpid for months, after 
gorging himself with a goat. These facts are satisfac- 
tory proofs to some minds that repose is natural after 
a hearty meal ; and the practice of taking a siesta, or 
after-dinner nap, is not injurious, if moderately in- 
dulged in. The old distich may be considered as 
reasonable advice : — 

" After dinner, rest a while ; 
After supper, walk a mile." 

" A diet wholesome in kind, but spare in measure, 
is essential to the preservation of health among all 
classes of men. This position, which is so true in 
itself, is the result of a dissection of man's physical 
constitution ; but true as it may be in principle, and 
important as it is in its practical consequences, that 
form of economy which inculcates the spare meas- 
ure of diet has the semblance of poverty; and pov- 
erty, though often the best, friend of man, is viewed 
with abhorrence by almost all the human race, more 
especially the Anglo-Saxons. Economy, or the proper 
measure of means to ends, preserves the balance, 
maintains effective action, and insures prosperity in 
times and trials of difficulty. Its value is great ; but 
it is not well understood or appreciated ; and it cannot 
be seen by those who consider excess the object and 
end of their being. A full habit is vulgarly supposed 
to constitute animal power; and, as a rich diet makes 
the habit, so high living is, by inference, considered 
the direct means of attaining high bodily strength." 

" The Spartans were abstemious ; they were restrict- 
ed to a diet which the soldiers of the present day 
would consider coarse and stinted ; yet the Spartans 
were conspicuous for physical strength, and they were, 
morally, the most resolute military that ever appeared 
in war. The Swiss occupied a high station among 
22* 



258 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

military nations in the days of their glory; yet the 
Swiss, while brave in the field, and virtuous in the 
domestic circle, were homely and frugal in the manner 
of living. The Highlanders of Scotland have some 
claim to be ranked with the Swiss and Spartans. 
Their virtues are known in war ; their fare was coarse 
in the days of their heroism, and even now it is home- 
ly. Animal food rarely fell to the lot of the Scotch 
peasant, Highland or Lowland, till within these few 
years ; yet the Scot was always a good soldier, ardent 
in courage, and powerful in the close conflict of battle. 
The Irish peasant is little inferior in physical force to 
the peasant of England. He is, moreover, spirited 
and bold as a soldier, and not wanting in energy where 
his powers are suitably animated and judiciously 
directed ; yet the food of the Irish peasant consists, at 
best, of potatoes and buttermilk. The fishermen on 
the coast of Spain, and on the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, live frugally. They subsist on the simplest 
food. They are, notwithstanding, strong and sinewy, 
insomuch that the highest-fed boat's crew in the Eng- 
lish navy does not equal a boat's crew of Biscayen 
fishermen, or of Turkish watermen, either in power or 
endurance at the oar. Those persons who have made 
the experiment in their own persons assert that en- 
durance of toil, similar to military toil, is better sup- 
ported under a diet that is light in kind, and of a rather 
scanty measure, than under full meals of rich and solid 
food." — Jackson's Formation, Discipline, and Economy 
of Armies. 

OF THE TIME OF EATING. 

Dr. Combe, in his volume on Digestion and Dietet- 
ics, observes, that " the grand rule in fixing the num- 
ber and period of our meals is to proportion them to 
the real wants of the system, as modified by age, sex, 
health, and manner of life, and as indicated by the 
true returns of appetite." 



OF THE TIME OF EATING. 259 

The time required for the digestion of the food by 
the healthy stomach varies from one to three or four 
hours. If fresh food be taken before that of the previ- 
ous meal has been digested, the process of digestion is 
disturbed. 

A variety of circumstances affect the length of the 
interval that should be allowed between each meal. 
On account of the greater activity of the organs of 
respiration, children require to be more frequently fed 
than adults ; and they bear hunger less easily. For 
the same reason, those who exercise much, or labor 
hard, require more frequent and heartier meals than 
the indolent and sedentary. It is not doubted that 
the having fixed periods for eating is more conducive 
to health than eating at irregular intervals. These 
periods must vary, however, for different classes of in- 
dividuals. Three meals only, for adults, are essential 
to health, though five are in frequent use. 

Breakfast. " It is well known," says Dr. Combe, 
" that the system is more susceptible of infection, and 
of the influence of cold and miasma, in the morning, 
before eating, than at any other time; and hence \t 
has become a duty with naval and military command- 
ers, especially in bad climates, always to give their 
men breakfast before exposing them to morning dews 
and other noxious influences." 

Much exercise, for those who have delicate constitu- 
tions, — either of body or mind, — before breakfast, 
operates injuriously ; producing exhaustion, languor, 
and unfitness for the ordinary occupations of the day. 

Most people, therefore, are benefited by breakfasting 
soon after rising. There are, doubtless, some few ex- 
ceptions. " To children, especially, who require plen- 
ty of sustenance," says Dr. Combe, " and are often 
obliged to rise early, an early breakfast is indispensa- 
ble. For travellers, a light breakfast is a great protec- 
tion against colds, and fatigue, or exhaustion." 

The occupation of the individual and the quantity 



260 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 

of food taken at breakfast affect the length of the in- 
terval between breakfast and dinner. Five hours is a 
very good general rule for adults ; of course there are 
exceptions to this. 

" As a people, we, in the United States, eat far too 
much hearty food ; we take in more rich nutriment 
than we require ; and the consequence is, our system 
becomes overloaded, and the proneness to derange- 
ment and diseased action is greatly increased." 

Observation and experiment have fully proved the 
absolute necessity of considerable variety of food, for 
the preservation of health and life. The body is made 
up of many principles, differing the one from the other 
in composition and chemical properties; and, of course, 
textures which are chemically different require differ- 
ent aliments. 

In children, the function of nutrition is more active 
than in adults. They have not merely to repair the 
daily waste, but also to grow. Their circulation and 
respiration are more active than in after life, and they 
require food at shorter intervals. 

Children, for the most part, show an almost instinc- 
tive fondness for sugar, which is supplied to them in 
their mother's milk. The natural appetite is, perhaps, 
an index of the wants of the system, and ought, there- 
fore, to be consulted, to a certain extent, in the dieting 
of children. 

" Arrowroot, tapioca, sago, sugar, butter, are ele- 
ments to support respiration, and, if used in greater 
quantity than is necessary for combustion in the 
lungs, they contribute to the increase of fat ; but they 
do not contain the ingredients necessary for the growth 
of bone, cartilage, muscle, &c. The caseine or curd 
of milk is supplied by nature for this purpose." Chil- 
dren may be over fed or under fed. Instances of the 
former are comparatively rare. Of the ill consequences 
of defective nutriment, we have, unfortunately, too 
many instances. 



OF THE TIME OF EATING. 261 

As regards the nutritive qualities of different foods, 
I will extract the conclusions which Magendie drew 
up in the name of the commission appointed to report 
to the Academy of Sciences in Paris. 

1. " We cannot, by any known proceeding, extract 
from bones an aliment which, either alone or mixed 
with other substances, can be substituted for meat. 

2. " Gelatine, albumen, and fibrine, taken separately, 
nourish animals for a very limited period only, and in 
an incomplete manner. In general, they soon excite 
such an insurmountable disgust that animals die rather 
than partake of them. 

3. " The above elementary principles, artificially re- 
united and rendered agreeably savory by seasoning, 
are eaten more readily and for a longer period than the 
same substances singly ; but their ultimate influence 
on nutrition is no better ; for animals that take them, 
even in considerable quantities, die, finally, with all the 
symptoms of complete inanition. 

4. " Muscular flesh, in which gelatine, albumen, and 
fibrine are united, according to the laws of organic na- 
ture, and where they are associated with other matters, 
as fats, salts, &c, suffices, even in small quantities, for 
complete and prolonged nutrition. 

5. " Raw bones have the same effect ; but the quan- 
tity consumed in twenty-four hours ought not to be 
much greater than in the case of meat. 

6. " Every kind of preparation, such as decoction 
with water, the action of hydrochloric acid, (muriatic 
acid,) and especially the transformation into gelatine, 
diminishes, and, in some cases, seems to destroy, the 
nutritive quality of bones. 

7. " Gluten, from wheat or maize, is sufficient for 
complete and prolonged nutrition. 

8. "Fat, taken alone, sustains life during some time, 
but the nutrition is imperfect and disordered." 

I will here add Dr. Beaumont's table, showing the 
mean time of digestion of various articles of food, as 



262 



THE AMERICAN MATRON. 



ascertained by experiment. Still, it should be remem- 
bered that " the rapidity of digestion varies according 
to the quantity eaten, the amount and nature of the 
previous exercise, the interval of the preceding meal, 
the state of health and of the weather, and also the 
state of the mind." 



Articles of Diet. 


Preparation. Hours and Minutes. 


Rice, .... 


Boiled, .... 1 


Pigs' feet, soused, . 


cc 




. 1 


Tripe, "... 


cc 






1 


Eggs, whipped, 


. Raw, 






1.30 


Trout, salmon, 


Boiled or fried, 






1.30 


Apples, sweet, mellow, . 


. Raw, 






. 1.30 


Venison, steak, 


Broiled, 






1.35 


Sago, .... 


. Boiled, 






. 1.45 


Tapioca, .... 


cc 






2 


Milk, .... 


u 






. 2 


Liver, beef's, fresh, 


Broiled. 






2 


Eggs, fresh, . 


Raw, 






. 2 


Codfish, cured dry, 


Boiled, 






2 


Apples, sour, mellow, 


Raw, 






. 2 


Cabbage, with vinegar, 


cc 






3 


Milk, .... 


cc 






. 2.15 


Eggs, fresh, 


Roasted, 






2.15 


Turkey, wild, 


cc 






2J 8 


Turkey, domestic, 


Boiled, 






2.25 


u a 








. 2.30 


Goose, wild, 


cc 






2.30 


Pig, sucking, 


a 






. 2.30 


Lamb, fresh, 


Broiled, 






2.30 


Hash, meat, and vegetables, 


Warmed, 






. 2.30 


Beans, pod, 


Boiled, 






2.30 


Sponge cake, 








. 2,30 


Parsnips, .... 


Boiled, 






2.30 


Potatoes, fresh, 


Roasted or baked, 






. 2.30 


Chicken, .... 


Fricasseed, 






2.45 


Custard, 








. 2.45 


Oysters, fresh, 


Raw, 






2.55 


Eggs, fresh, . 


Soft-boiled, 






. 3 


Beef, fresh, lean, rare, 


Roasted, 






3 


Beefsteaks, . 


Broiled, 






. 3 


Pork, recently salted, 


Raw, 




3 


cc cc ' « 


Stewed, 


. 


3 


Mutton, fresh, 


Broiled, 






3 



OF THE TIME OF EATfNG. 



263 



Articles of Diet. 


Preparation. 


Hours and Minutes. 


Mutton, fresh, 


. Boiled, 


m . 


. 3 


Dumpling, apple, 
Cake, corn, 


« 

. Baked, 




3 
. 3 


Oysters, 
Porksteaks, 


Roasted, 
. Broiled, 




3.15 
. 3.15 


Mutton, fresh, 


Roasted, 




3.15 


Bread, corn, 


. Baked, 


. , 


. 3.15 


Carrot, 


Boiled, 




3.15 


Sausages, fresh, 


. Broiled, 


. . 


. 3.20 


Oysters, 

Beef, fresh, lean, 
Beef, salted, 
Butter, . 


Stewed, 
. Roasted, 

Boiled, 
. Melted, 


• 


3.30 
. 3.30 

3.30 
. 3.30 


Cheese, old, strong, 


Raw, 




3.30 


Soup, mutton, and oyster, 


. Boiled, 


. , 


. 3.30 


Bread, wheat, fresh, 


Baked, 




3.30 


Potatoes, fresh, 


. Boiled, 


. , 


. 3.30 


Eggs, fresh, 


Hard-boiled 


or fried, 


3.30 


Green corn and beans, 


. Boiled, 


. . 


. 3.45 


Beets, 


u 




3.45 


Veal, fresh, 


. Broiled, 


. . 


. 4 


Fowls, domestic, 


Boiled, 




4 


Fowls, ducks, 


. Roasted, . 


. B 


. 4 


Soup, beef, vegetables, and 
Veal, fresh, 


bread, Boiled, 
. Fried, 




4 
. 4.30 


Ducks, wild, 


Roasted, 




4.30 


Pork, fat and lean, . 


u 


. 


. 5.15 



20 



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